


Blank Space.

by why_not_jane



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Imprinting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Female Friendship, Imprinting, Male-Female Friendship, Rare Pairings, Soulmates, Women Being Awesome, Women Supporting Women
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-24
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-02-26 21:01:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 43,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2666219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/why_not_jane/pseuds/why_not_jane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leah Clearwater imprints on a stranger by the name of Steven Rogers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Heart Break Is The National Anthem

**Author's Note:**

> Cross posted on FF.net  
> Title from Taylor Swift song 'Blank Space' - go check out her new album 1989 if you haven't already.  
> Find me on tumblr as why-not-jane.
> 
> In this story, Jacob left with the Cullens, so no 'Black Pack'.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

There was nothing particularly interesting about the diner. The yellowing walls and ripped vinyl seats screamed normality, with a side of filth. So if the patrons (mostly older, large, balding men) had been told there was a werewolf among them, they would have sniggered right to your face, and make rude remarks about where the nearest AA meeting was, happily forgetting their own drunken disasters.

No one would have looked twice at the muscular young men squished into a booth, except to grumble about the cacophony of voices that made any conversation impossible.

When the girl entered, however, the older men's attempts at conversation were left hanging in the air, as ogling her flawless features became the preferred option. Dressed in denim shorts and a light tank top, she looked as though Summer had hit, though the cold Autumn chill had long set in.

Leah scowled as she stopped right next to the loud young mens table. They were yelling over each other, and either hadn't noticed her hovering over their shoulders, or were all too happy ignoring her. Leah didn't even bother trying to tell herself that there weren't enough seats anyway.

So she slid into a seat at the bar, ignoring the rest of the diner with an ease that came only with practice.

An older waitress, whose name Leah had never leaned, didn't bother to ask for her order, setting down a large burger and milkshake in front of her. She hunched on her seat, shoving down the food as she tried to hide from the wolves at table nine.

"-bother to come? She just ignores us anyway."

"It's not like she has anything better to do. Jake left with the Cullens, and Sam's given up on her. Who cares what she does, long as she doesn't bother us."

"I heard Sam thinks there might be other wolf packs around. He's thinking of sending her to have a look around the other reservations."

"You mean we wouldn't have to put up with her? Do you think maybe another pack would, like, adopt her? Forever?"

Leah heard the whispered conversation easily, even over the clutter of the diner. Her inner wolf let out a howl that would have shattered harts into shards of ice.

She whirled around. "I can hear you, you flea bitten-" she stopped, unable to speak. She sat, mouth open but unable to breath, her eyes as wide as saucers, turning glassy with shock, and want, and sadness.

The wolves in booth nine were confused. Following her line of sight, they slowly turned.

There was a man, standing by the door. He was just as tall as any of the wolves, and had enough muscle to make even them pause (if only for half a second). But his hair was blonde, and his eyes were a blue that would put a summer sky to shame.

* * *

Slightly unnerved, Steve walked past the group of men staring at him. He panicked for a second, before realising that no one here knew Captain America was a role played by the stranger at the door.

He continued his way towards the bar, sitting down with a sigh.

He could still feel the men from the booth's eyes prickling on the back of his neck.

A waitress came over, and took his order, giving him a once over with a pair of beady eyes, smiling at him with large brick-red lips.

As Steve drew patterns with his finger on the cracked bench top, he noticed another pair of eyes on him. He glanced sideways, only to stop and stare.

The other pair of eyes were a sad brown, and no longer sparkled, having dulled over time through lack of joy. But through the sadness, shock and terror, was a hint of the delightful beauty.

Steve made an unspoken promise, there and then, that he would not leave this little town until he saw those eyes shine like stars.

He took in the rest of the figure, a beautiful girl with legs that stretched on for miles, hair that shone even in the dull light, and features almost too beautiful to be true.

And in the second that he blinked, she was gone.

The door slammed shut as a breeze rushed around the room. He hadn't had that reaction from a woman before, even when he was still just an asthmatic midget.

Steve turned, to stare at the door, only to be met with the stares of the men at the booth. Idiot, Steve berated himself. He deserved that for staring at her like a piece of meat.

One of the men sniggered. Another examined him head to foot, and almost choked on a snort.

Their shoulders shook with laughter, even the two who rushed out to follow the girl. Soon the whole diner was openly staring at the poor stranger supplying all the amusement.

Steve turned back to his seat, confused, and hurt at the woman's reaction.

The waitress came back and settled a large plate in front of him. Looking at the crown laughing behind him, the older woman gave a tut.

"Don't worry honey, we're not all bad." She winked.

* * *

Outside, Leah ran.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!"she snarled, jumping over a meter high log in the forest, having left the diner far behind.

Of all the damn people to imprint on, why did it have to be a blue-eyed pretty boy? But the further she ran, the more she wanted to turn around and go back to the stranger.

"Leah! Stop, we've gotta talk," Quil yelled. She just ran faster, only to be caught by a wolf who had doubled back to corner her.

"Shut up!" Paul snarled, as she howled and struggled in his arms.

"Leah, aren't you lucky? You've imprinted!" Quil said cheerfully, carefully staying well out of the way of her reach.

"On some stupid blondie? Not what I'd call lucky," Paul smirked.

Her clothes tore, flying as she bit down hard on Paul's neck. Swearing, he shifted.

"For God's sake," Quil muttered, glancing around before yanking off his clothes.

_How dare you, he did nothing to deserve this, you ugly monster_ , Leah snarled.

_Oh, but I wonder what he did to deserve someone like you?_ Paul mocked back, ducking the swipe of a claw.

_Leah!_ Quil said, _Guys, clam down. We should be happy. We weren't sure Leah could imprint. So why don't we all just calm down, and you can go talk to the guy, Leah?_

_Yeah, Leah, go talk to your new hubby. I'm sure a guy like him's got a hundred empty-headed birds hanging off his arm, which has to be a better option than you,_ Paul sniggered.

_She could have imprinted on you, Paul_ , Quil offered.

Paul and Leah stopped in their tracks. Their horrified silence said it all.

_Great. Now, you can either go back to the diner and start up a conversation with the guy, or go and tell Sam_ , Quil said.

But Leah did neither, simply turning and running. She was the fastest wolf in the pack. No one could catch her.

* * *

Leah visited one of the many stashes of clothes she had hidden throughout the forest after realising that controlling her temper might not be that easy. She pulled on a pair of shorts that had started off as three quarter jeans, but was nearing the end of their life as a tight pair of almost knee length shorts, as well as a t-shirt she thought she had thrown out long ago.

Coming down to where the forest gave way to the sea at First Beach, Leah collapsed on the scratchy sand.

Why did this happen to her? She'd never put much stock in the whole 'soul mate' deal. Well, she had once, but she'd learned.

And now Blondie comes along, looking perfect, proper and gentlemanly- the exact opposite of all the guys in the pack, not to mention herself. The pulling inside her was so strong, desperate, driving her mad. But she pushed it to one side and ignored it. Something she had become very good at doing lately.

She had learnt to let Paul's taunts roll off her back, but this time his words had struck hard. A guy that looked like that had to have a hundred beautiful, smart, normal girls sighing after him everywhere he went.

Leah watched the sunset slowly fade to black. She closed her eyes and let the sounds of the waves wash over her. She tried to ignore the trembling feeling inside her, begging her to go back and find the man who had lit up the diner with his beautiful eyes.

But what would the other's say? No one ever really thought that she would imprint, and most certainly not on someone with no wolf genes (that was evident, with his pale skin and hair, blue eyes, and european features).

There would be an endless supply of jokes, all at her expense.

She heard a loud grumbling, and sniffed the air. There was no rain in the air, and it couldn't be thunder. As it drew closer, Leah recognised the sound of a motorbike.

The noise cut off, and the waves rolled back in.

Soft footsteps on the sand approached, and she curled in on herself. The only one in La Push who she knew had a motorbike was Jake, who had given them to the rest of the pack before he left. She wondered who was coming to yell at her.

The footsteps paused. She'd been spotted. Though oddly, the smell wafting towards her was one of mint and cleanliness. Not the wild smell of the forest combined with sweaty socks and whatever they'd eaten minutes before.

"Are you all right, ma'am?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

Leah spun around to see the man from the diner- her imprint.

She stared.

"It's just, you ran out in a hurry, and it's getting dark. I thought maybe something had upset you."

Was that a hint of a blush on his cheeks?

"I thought it was me at first, then I realised those other guys weren't being nice and - I mean, I don't want to annoy you if you want to be left alone, I just saw you down here and thought you might want some company. But I can leave, if you want, cause, I'm a stranger, and you probably just want to be alone..." he faltered under her stare.

"I'll just go now," he muttered, turning.

Leah let him take one step before the pull towards him came to hard to resist. And she wouldn't admit it under threat of death, but she grudgingly found his awkward ramblings cute.

"Wait!" he turned, a hopeful expression on his face.

"... I could use some company," Leah said quietly.

Slowly, he came and sat down next to her, not crowding her space just simply being there. They sat there, carefully watching the night sky, weary of disturbing the silence.

"I've been in the city so long, I'd forgotten how many stars there really were in the sky," he offered.

"I wouldn't know. I haven't been out of La Push for a long time," Leah said bitterly.

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to shove them back down her throat.

"Where are you from?" she asked.

"New York. Brooklyn," he said, blue eyes turning a stormy grey.

Leah was suprised. She had expected maybe Washington, but no. All a way across the country. Wasn't that where the attempted alien invasion had taken place?

"What brought you so far from home?" she asked, as his feelings started to flow across the special bond they shared. She was suprised how unbearably sad he was, and her longing to help nearly swept her away.

He snorted slightly at her question, and looked far out to sea.

"Hard to be far from home when you haven't got one in the first place," he said.

She clenched her jaw. She could feel the sorrow wafting off him and stood up. She couldn't deal with someone even more broken then herself.

"I have to go," she said, turning to run back into the forest.

"Wait!" he called out. Against her will she faced him, still posed for flight.

"You can't go running into the forest at night. Let me give you a ride home," he said, walking up to her, worry clear in his eyes.

"I'll be fine," as she turned, he grabbed her arm, sending a tingle all through her. Even compared with her high temperature, he felt warm. His hands were big, strong and calloused, but delicate, as if he were handling a priceless artifact.

"But there are wolves in the woods," He said, looking her directly in the eyes. They were almost exactly the same height.

"They never hurt anyone," she said, tugging her arm gently out of his grip, "I'll be fine."

"But what if there is someone in the forest?" he asked as she walked away, sounding exasperated.

"Do you think just because I'm a girl I can't protect myself?" Leah asked. Though she didn't want to snap at her imprint, this was a prejudice she had been dealing with all her life, especially since joining the pack. And no one told her what to do.

"No! I just think a pack of wolves versus one human, it's pretty obvious who is going to win-"

"Look, buddy, if I meet anything or anyone in the forest at night, it's not going to be me doing the running," she snarled, as she disappeared into the trees.

Steve stared into the shadowy trees.

"Nice going, Rogers," he hissed, hitting himself on the forehead.


	2. Every Day Is Like A Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing…. Sassy Steve! aka this little shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left kudos/wrote a review. I know the stats don't look like much, but considering what a crack ship this is, I wasn't expecting anything! Thank you all so much for giving this insanity a try.

Knowing that sometimes it was best to simply get the worst over with, Leah took a deep breath, and was about to open the door to Sam's house as Jared came flying up the path. He gave her a rather cheeky grin as he gestured for her to open the door.

"She's here!" someone yelled, and Emily came flying out of the kitchen.

"Oh, what's he like? Where's he from? How come I've never seen him around before? How did it feel to look in his eyes and know he was the one?" Emily babbled, dragging her to the kitchen where the den of wolves awaited. Jared followed behind them.

Emily forced her into a chair, and started loading food onto Leah's plate as the pack gathered around. Leah looked up to see Sam staring at her from across the table, frown prominent on his face.

"Sooo... What's his name?" Seth said with a grin as he leapt up onto the table, swinging his legs, only to be shooed off by a bustling Emily.

"Uh..." Leah blinked.

She'd had an entire conversation with her imprint, and didn't know his name. God, she didn't even get his number. Not even a day had past, and she'd lost him. Not that she was sure she wanted him in the first place.

"She forgot to ask," Jared explained cheerfully, stealing a slice of ham from her plate.

There was a pause, before the whole house erupted in laughter. Even Emily was suppressing a giggle.

"Okay, so I don't know his name, big deal. Wait- how did you know I didn't ask?" Leah rounded on Jared.

"Someone had to keep an eye on you, Leah. When you first imprint, your emotions can be a little unstable, and we didn't want you doing anything you would regret," Sam said.

"Just because you gave that hideous scar to Emily when you first imprinted doesn't mean I can't control myself," Leah snapped.

Everyone froze.

Seth turned his face away from her, refusing to look her in the eye, and as a deep growling filled the room, Leah braced herself for the beating that was sure to follow. Sam stood up, his chair shooting out behind him and crashing into the wall. But he didn't get a word in.

"For goodness sake, Sam! You can't lose your temper every time someone mentions my scar! It was an accident, and I've forgiven you, what more do you want?" Emily snapped as she threw the dishcloth onto the table. Sam's fists clenched and unclenched and he drew in a great big breath. Slowly, Sam sat back down again, and Brady raced to get his chair upright so he didn't fall over.

"So, what's he like?" Quil asked awkwardly.

"Why don't you just ask Jared?" Leah shoved down her food.

When it became obvious she wouldn't respond, and Sam would keep glaring, Jared answered.

"He said he's from New York, but he doesn't have a home."

Leah stabbed her fork into the potato. It burst with a squelch.

"And he thought Leah was a delicate little flower that needed protecting. Didn't want her going home through the forest by herself." There was a pause, and then the whole pack started cooing.

"Aww, was little Leah afraid of the scary trees?" someone smirked.

"Were the big bad wolves gonna jump out and eat you alllll up?"

"Well, he's gonna get a helluva shock when he finds out he has to deal with you for the rest of his life," Paul grinned. This kind of talk was the reason why Leah hated the pack.

"I don't know his name, number, or where he is staying. What makes you think I'll ever see him again?" Leah snarled, blinking away a tear that had formed.

"Fate's funny that way, Leah. You'll see him again. Count on it," Emily smiled gently as she collected the plates. Leah stood up, refusing to look her in the eye, but at the door, she turned to her, and nodded awkwardly.

* * *

Leah lay on her bed that night, a horrible ache building up inside of her as she curled in on her stomach. Every time she fell asleep, she dreamed of her imprint, dying, slowly freezing in a lonely tomb. Every single time, Leah was forced to watch his body turn blue and hard.

The pull, and the worry was getting to be so great it actually hurt, and she let out a low whine of pain. Her door opened, and Seth lay down next to her, his massive body trying to snuggle into hers like they were kids again.

"I promise, Leah, we'll find him tomorrow, and you'll never have to be alone again. Just get some sleep."

Leah nodded, but those dead eyes still stayed in her head.

"I'm not sure if I can do this, Seth," she whispered.

"Hey of course you can. Like Emily said, fate's funny that way. Everything'll be okay," he soothed her.

After a few minutes, Seth broke the silence.

"You owe me, you know."

"Oh really?"

"When you ran away from prince charming, I payed for your burger," Leah grinned sleepily.

"Tomorrow, burgers are on me."

* * *

Leah woke up early next morning to see Seth drooling in her face.

"Get up!" Leah yelled, shoving him out of bed. He stared up at her as she peered over the edge of the bed.

"What happened to our sibling bonding moment?" Seth grumbled as he stretched himself on the floor.

"Thanks, Seth. You don't mention it to anyone, okay?" Leah jumped out of bed, sniffing the smell of breakfast.

"Scared the guys'll think you're a big softie?" Seth followed after her. Leah just scowled as she followed her nose to the kitchen.

"Mmm, smells good Mum," Seth said as Leah sat down at the table and dug in.

"Thank you Seth," Sue Clearwater presided over the kitchen table like a queen, sitting down elegantly, raising an eyebrow as her daughter scoffed down her meal.

"Leah, don't you have something to tell me?" She asked.

Leah swallowed down a mouthful, before replying, "Thanks Mum. S'good."

"Thank you, but that's not what I meant. I had a call today from Sam. He said something very exciting happened yesterday."

Leah paused in shoving food into her mouth. She had been trying to ignore the pull all morning, trying to forget the nightmares of last night.

"Oh. That."

"That's all you can say? Leah, you've met your soul mate! I know you gave up on love after what happened with Sam, but this is the one. Now, what's his name, and when do I get to meet him?"

"I don't know, and definitely not." Leah muttered.

At her mother's questioning look, she explained, "I forgot to ask him his name. Or where he was staying."

"Nnlleeookintoyay!" Seth said cheerfully through a mouthful of food.

"Swallow," Sue said, "Now are you going to go looking for him today?" she directed at Leah, who shrugged.

"Emily says it's fate, so why use energy to look for someone who I'll be forced to be with anyway?"

"Hmmph?!" said Seth, looking horrified, cheeks bulging.

"I agree with Seth. Your logic is ridiculous," Sue got up to clear her plate at the sink.

"Makes sense to me," Leah grumbled, "And he's my imprint, so I don't get a lot of free choice on the subject, but this one, I do".

She stood up, following her mum to clean her plate, ignoring Seth humming the bridal march through a mouthful of food at her words.

"Besides, I've got to get to work anyway," Leah started up the stairs to collect her gear.

* * *

Shortly after Jake and the Cullens left, an exercise clinic had opened up in Forks. She taught junior yoga classes, boxing, and was in training to teach a more advanced level of yoga. Work could be a little on the dull side, but at least she was saving money for college, and get in some extra fitness-not that she needed it.

Unknown to Leah, Seth and Quil were staked out opposite the gym in Quil's truck, debating what to do.

"We could just track him down and take him to her," Quil suggested.

Seth scrunched up his face, "Pretty sure that's called kidnapping. Which I'm pretty sure is illegal.

Quil stared.

"I'm also ninety-three percent sure Leah would kill me."

Quil considered, "Fair point."

The two watched the gym in silence for several minutes.

"Maybe we could-"

"No," Seth interrupted, neither breaking their gaze from the door.

"He works out, right?" Quil said suddenly. Seth stared at him.

"How the hell would I know?"

"He had muscles! And don't normal humans have to work out to get muscles? They don't just boom, appear, like for us," he frowned, "except if they're on steroids."

Seth rolled his eyes, "I really hope this is going somewhere."

"He'll probably go to the gym anyway!" Quil grinned, "To work out! It's the only one around."

Realisation dawned on Seth's face. Quil was too excited to laugh at his friends' bug eyed expression, but took a mental image to show the rest of the pack later.

"And he would have felt the imprint too! Even if he doesn't understand it! So he'll probably want to look good for this 'mystery girl', so-"

"He'll go to the gym!" Quil finished for him, the two high five-ing vigorously.

"You guys better have a damn good reason for stalking me," a voice interrupted through the open window.

The boys spun around to see Leah leaning down to glare at them.

Quil sank lower in his seat.

"We were just stopping to buy..." Seth floundered, searching for a believable excuse.

"Organic fruit and veg," Quil supplied.

"Yes!" Seth said quickly, going with it despite Leah's raised brow, "And we were just leaving. You need to go back to work right now!" he made shooing motions.

"Yes, quickly," Quil said, "before he-" Seth elbowed him, "before you get fired."

The two boys nodded vigorously, smiles wide and innocent.

Leah sighed. "You two are frickin' weird."

She turned and left.

Seth turned to Quil.

"Organic fruit and veg? You couldn't come up with something slightly more believable?" he grumbled.

Quil wordlessly pointed out his window to the shop next to them. Aunty Gertie's Fresh Organic Greenies!

"Gross," Seth muttered, staring the engine.

* * *

Leah was not happy. Okay, so that wasn't such an uncommon state for her, but she was much grumpier than usual, which was why this time was worth mentioning.

Sam had turned up at work to tell her that she would start her patrol immediately after work, having missed last night. The exact words he used were 'ran away'. Cute. Her coworkers, all from Forks, did not know her history with Sam, and assumed he was her boyfriend. Seriously? He couldn't have just called? The pack had promised to interfere at her work as little as possible. Phones were invented for a reason.

She had also, almost subconsciously, been forming a plan to go down to the beach again. Maybe he would be there. But that wan't going to happen, all thanks to Sam. You'd think he could give her a break after having that particular bombshell dropped on her.

Thanks a lot.

The rest of the week, Leah endured the not so gentle ribbing of her pack mates. Endless jokes, generally at her expense. Those she could take.

The pack had very quickly learnt that any jokes about her imprint would not be tolerated. The lesson was both fast and painful. Despite her hatred of the emotional manipulation of imprinting, Leah found she couldn't bare to hear a bad word spoken about her imprint.

On Saturday, Sam announced that the pack was going on a 'bonding' cliff diving trip. He announced all pack members and imprints could go.

Leah announced she would not.

* * *

Only when the pack, minus Leah, arrived at the cliff edge, they found it was already occupied. A man sat near the edge, sketch pad in hand, staring out at the ocean. Waves and colours lapped together, clouds dancing across the sky.

The pack stared curiously. Jared coughed politely to announce their presence. The man didn't jump, but threw a polite nod over his shoulder, then went back to his watercolour pencils, as if he had known they were there all along.

"One sec, just want to get the right colour down," he frowned at his pad, "It can be difficult to get that perfect gradient where the sky and ocean meet," he continued, almost to himself.

The pack had all seen his face. They recognised the man.

And stared.

Paul started sniggering, and turned into a choked snort when Jared elbowed him.

"Sorry for making you wait," Leah's imprint (who the pack had named 'Blondie' till further notice) stood up, packing away his pencils and pad into a large backpack and slinging it over a shoulder. He offered a hand to Sam.

"I'm Steve-Phillips," he said politely, an easy smile on his face, though no one noticed the slight wince when he said his last name. Then he frowned, eyes wandering carefully over the pack.

"Didn't I see a few of you in that diner earlier this week?" he asked.

Paul smirked, "Yeah, you freaked out a friend of ours," he said, faux casual.

Steve looked way.

"I saw. Is she alright?" he asked quickly, glancing back up, digging his hands back in his pockets when Sam ignored it.

"She'll get over it," Sam said slowly, "My name is Sam Uley. What are you doing here?" he asked, taking a step forward.

Most people would have backed up or shied away from Sam's alpha tone, wolf or not. Blondie, despite being several inches shorter, straightened his back, stance defensive. He looked Sam right in the eye. Sam took a step closer, polite smile edged with a threat.

"Tour of the country. You have some beautiful scenery around here," Steve said.

No one noticed Seth slipping away, back to the trucks, too caught up in the scene playing out before them.

"You're an artist?" Sam asked. The question sounded odd with the threatening tone he used to voice it.

Steve shrugged, "It's a hobby," he said, leaving more unsaid than not.

"What do you do, then?" Sam asked, standing tall. Blondie may be ignoring the height difference, but that didn't stop Sam from trying to make him feel small.

Steve wasn't buying it. He gave Sam an unimpressed glance, gaze flickering back to where the pack stood agitatedly, ready to leap at a moment's notice.

"I feel like I'm being interrogated," he said, deceptively calm, "I'm not trespassing, am I?" he gave a crooked smile.

Sam didn't reply. He knew Blondie knew the answer.

"And what brings you folks up here, if we're being so candid?" Steve smiled over Sam's shoulder at the pack.

The pack was were watching a movie, and the characters had popped out of the scene and started talking to them.

"Cliff diving," Jared filled in, after an awkward silence.

Steve glanced down at the sea.

"That's a long way to fall," he commented.

"Scared?" smirked Paul, but Steve only shrugged.

"Had a friend fall once," he smiled sadly "'course, those kinda stories don't have happy endings."

"What happened to him?" Quil asked quietly.

"Not the sort of tale you tell when you want to keep the mood pleasant," Steve said, mouth quirking as if he was tasting the irony.

"Well, if you've got no more questions left, I'll leave you to you're cliff diving," he said, falsely cheerful. He took a step to the side to walk around Sam, but Sam mirrored his movements, blocking him.

Steve stared unflinchingly up at Sam, "You don't like me," he stated firmly.

"Never said that," Sam countered.

"Not with words, maybe. Gonna take me into the woods with your friends and beat the crap out of me? I'd better warn you-I give a hell of a lot better than I get. And I've had plenty of practice with guys like you," he said in an even tone.

If the wolves didn't rely on brute strength and speed alone, they might have noticed the stranger shifting into a practiced fighting stance.

"You've never met anyone like me," Sam snarled quietly. The pack was beginning to worry. Sam was the voice of reason, the leader. This sort of aggression was usually reserved for Paul or Leah.

But to their surprise, Blondie only smirked.

"Is that a pick up line?" he laughed, "unfortunately, I have heard worse."

The pack stared with their mouths hanging open, codfish style, while Sam glowered.

He began growling, shaking.

"What the hell is going on here?" Leah demanded. The pack jumped turning around to find a hastily dressed Leah storming up to them, Seth following behind.

Sam had not turned around.

"Uh- Hi," said Steve, offering her an awkward smile. Leah only threw him an angry glance.

"Sam, what the fucking hell are you doing?" she snapped, marching up to him and placing a hand on his shoulder, forcing him around.

"Nothing. He was leaving," he said.

"Finally," Steve muttered walking around Sam and Leah, and making his way into the forest that ended only meters away from the edge of the cliff. Leah could feel the pull as she watched him disappear into the trees. She ground her teeth, clenching her fists as they vibrated faster and faster.

"I don't know what is wrong with you Sam, you were gonna phase in front of my imprint, you were baiting him! You are going to pay for talking to him like that," Leah snarled over her shoulder as she headed into the forest, "and you damn well better believe it'll fucking hurt."


	3. Now We Got Problems

Steve could here the footsteps following him. He turned to come face to face with the girl from the diner. She looked angry. Steve thought of drawing her like a vengeful goddess.He thought of Botticelli's Aphrodite and immediately turned red.

She hesitated before she spoke, asking him gruffly, "You okay?"

Steve smiled, "I'm fine. Confused, sure. Why did that man- Sam? Why was he so angry?"

Leah gave a small shrug, "Wish I knew. Sam's supposed to be the level headed one."

It wasn't a complete lie. She knew Steve being her imprint had something to do with Sam acting so out of character, but imprinting isn't something you tell someone whose name you don't even know.

"Steve," he said suddenly. At Leah's frown, he elaborated.

"My name is Steve Phillips," a hint of a flush crept up from his shirt collar. Leah simultaneously wanted to smile at the adorable look on his face, and hit herself for even thinking it. She knew from their previous conversation that he was slightly broken. What a pair.

When she didn't reply, he nodded, looking disappointed.

"Well, thanks for interrupting when you did. It was about to get ugly," he said, surprisingly cheerful for a guy who was nearly beaten up by a gang of super muscular men.

They had reached the edge of the forest, which opened up onto a basic car park. Amid the old rusting trucks was a vintage motorcycle, which had been lovingly restored. Steve walked toward it, giving Leah a friendly wave. Leah nodded in reply, turning back into the forest when she paused, rolling her eyes at herself.

"Leah," she said.

"Pardon?" Steve looked up from his bike.

"My name. Leah," she crossed her arms across her chest and waited.

"It was very nice to meet you Leah," Steve smiled, "Lucky, too. I hate to think what would have happened to those guys if you hadn't stepped in."

"'Those guys?'" Leah quoted with a snort, "guess we can add modest to your resume as well as 'easy blusher'."

Steve winced, biting his lip, "That obvious?"

"Oh yeah," Leah laughed, watching as he began turning red again. It then hit her that he was blushing because she was flirting back.

"Where did you get the bike," she asked, changing the subject.

"It's been in storage for years," Steve said, staring down at his motorcycle, "A friend fixed it up and gave it to me as a... a coming home present."

From the slight pause, Leah knew there was more to the story. A story that hurt him.

"It's nice," she said flatly, crossing then uncrossing her arms.

"Yeah. You like bikes?" Steve asked, tilting his head.

Leah gave a non-committal shrug.

"Well, if you ever want a ride, I'm staying at the motel in Forks."

Leah nodded, then frowned when the double entendre hit her. She looked at him, and he stared directly into her eyes, despite blushing furiously. Instead of turning him down completely, she stopped. Maybe it was the blue eyes. Or the great physique. Or the slight flush to his face. Or-who was she kidding, it was all the imprint.

"Hmm," she said. And she turned around and walked back into the forest, leaving Steve to stare confused and unsure after her.

* * *

The pack went quiet as Leah entered Emily's house. She paused to glare at each of them, then offered Seth a small quirk of her lips, in thanks for calling her from the radio in the car before Sam separated Steve from his head. Sam was nowhere to be seen.

In the kitchen, Emily had paused in her baking.

"Why did they go so quiet?" she asked Leah.

"Where's Sam?" Leah ignored her question.

Emily threw her oven mitt onto the kitchen bench.

"I'm not going to tell you until you explain what exactly has been going on, Leah. Sam has been unusually bad tempered, the rest of the boys look nervous, and no one is telling me anything," Emily placed her hands on her hips, "I'm not some crystal figurine that's easily broken. You need to let me know."

Emily stared at Leah defiantly, her stance demanding respect.

"Sam's an idiot," Leah snapped, pushing past Emily to the back door. But Emily suprised her.

"Tell me something I don't know," Emily rolled her eyes. Leah sighed, screwed up her eyes, and banged her head on the door.

"The pack went cliff diving today, and at the usually spot, my- Steve, was there," Leah grunted.

Emily either didn't notice her slip, or ignored it.

"Your imprint? What has this got to do with him?" Emily asked, jumping up to sit on the kitchen bench. She didn't seem to mind she was getting flour all over her pants.

"It-how did you know he was my imprint?" Leah demanded, looking up.

Emily groaned, "at this rate, my eyes are going to fall out of my sockets. You're forgetting that I know you, Leah."

Leah scowled. She wished they could both forget.

"Seth said Steve was polite, then Sam went alpha on him. He said Steve thought Sam was a jerk, then decided to piss him off even more. By the time I got there, Sam was this close to phasing."

Emily blinked, and raked a hand through her messy hair.

"You're saying Steve didn't back down?" she asked.

"That's what you got from my little speech? That my imprint is a cocky idiot?" Leah snapped.

"I was thinking more along the lines of impressive," Emily snarked back, "Most wolves can't stand up against Sam's alpha tone, let alone a human. But you're right. Idiot," Emily smiled sweetly.

Leah twitched slightly at the insult directed at her imprint, and took a deep breath, "What's wrong with Sam?"

Emily was part way through a shrug when she paused. She frowned and clenched her jaw, expression stony.

They heard the front door swing open, and Sam yelled out, "I've got the steaks, Em!" They could here him walking to the back of the house, towards the kitchen.

"Leah, you might want to go. I don't think you'll want to hear this," Emily slid off the bench, marching towards the kitchen door.

"You gonna be yelling at Sam?" Leah asked. Emily paused at the door, and nodded.

"I'm staying."

Emily nodded, smiling tightly, and flung the door open. Sam stood on the other side, holding groceries.

"Everybody out," she snapped to the pack, who had doubtlessly heard every word between the two women. They stood up, filing out the front door. Even Paul looked slightly scared.

"Em, what's going on?" Sam frowned, noticing Leah leaning on the kitchen door frame.

"You tell me, honey," Emily said coolly.

Sam was looking wildly between the two woman. He had enough common sense to look scared, clenching the groceries bag tightly in his fist.

"Why do you hate Steve so much?" Emily asked.

"I-I don't," Sam said, looking bewildered. Leah scoffed. Seth had told exactly what had happened. But of course Sam would be believed over her. The Alpha versus the little troublemaking girl. It didn't take a genius.

"Then why the hell did you try to goad him into a fight you knew he couldn't win?" Emily had looked calm before, but now she was positively spitting.

"I didn't-"

"Don't you lie to me Sam. According to everyone else, you nearly lost it. Sam, you can't afford to lose it. Not people like you. Do I have to remind you what happened last time?"

Sam flinched, taking a step back, guilt etched into the folds of his face. Leah was stunned. She'd never seen Emily so angry. And she was glad Emily hadn't outed her for telling on Sam, but she figured it was pretty obvious.

But Emily believed her. She couldn't wrap her head around it. She wasn't sure she wanted to.

"No. I just, I got angry, and I don't know why. I guess I was in a bad mood," Sam said. He was sounding less ashamed and more defensive.

"So you just saw a random guy on the cliff and decided to take your anger out on him?" Emily asked.

"... Yes?" Sam said cautiously.

"And that's it? There's no other reason you nearly shifted in front of the guy?" Emily asked, an odd glint in her eye that Leah couldn't place.

"No, of course not! I was in a bad mood and I-I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Emily tossed her long plaited her over her shoulder, "Honey, don't say 'sorry' to me."

At Sam's look of bewilderment, Emily nodded her head back at Leah, "Sam, he wasn't my imprint," Emily said.

Sam's face twitched as he looked at Leah.

Leah didn't dare blink despite her watering eyes, in case it was all a dream.

"My apologies for how I treated your imprint. Leah," he ground out.

Biting her lip to keep from grinning, Leah gave a nod of thanks. The others might think she's immature and selfish, but she didn't let the feelings of euphoria Sam's apology had created from overriding her maturity. Sam wasn't going to get any gloating from her.

No one would roll their eyes and sigh over selfish little Leah.

"Good," Emily beamed, "then I have to do some shopping for tomorrow night."

She bustled past Leah into the kitchen.

"I just got the groceries," Sam said, scratching his head at her change in tone.

"Yes, but now Leah knows who her imprint is, it's time for a bonfire on the beach tomorrow! Leah can introduce Steve to everyone, and you can apologise for your behavior," she walked out of the kitchen with her purse, "to his face," she finished sternly, closing the front door behind her.

Sam stood staring at Leah.

"If he disturbs the pack, and the tribe, then he's a problem. Don't think just because I apologised for today doesn't mean I won't do what's necessary," he said.

The warm happiness Leah had felt was drowned out by Sam's cold words.

"What is that supposed to mean?" The words did not come out with the snarl she intended, sounding strangely distant.

"He's not one of us, Leah. And you know that white folk, if they don't understand something, they fear it. Fear turns to hate, and that 'something' gets destroyed. Just look at history. I'm not willing to risk the safety of my pack's secret for one man. I'll be keeping a very close eye on him - so will the elders."

With those words, Sam left. The front door banged closed.

Leah burned with anger, but the fire was numbed with disbelief.

"Fucking bullshit," Leah hissed. Sure, Steve might be treated with more suspicion than the other imprints received because of his colour, but all that talk about fear and hate was complete crap. Sam knew how imprinting worked. There was no room left for hate. Your whole world moved, and it effected the imprint too. Maybe it wasn't as obvious to them, as sudden, but it crept up on them.

Leah began to wonder if Sam had been lying to Emily when he swore there was no other reason he nearly shifted in front of Steve. Did they know each other? Did Sam know something she didn't? Doubtful.

The anger forced her into action, and she yanked the door open, almost ripping it off it's hinges.

Sam was walking don the driveway to where Emily waited in the car.

"If you're ever in a 'bad mood' around my imprint again, I will rip your eyeballs out of their sockets. Pretty sure you're not gonna grow them back," Leah said softly, knowing Sam, with his heightened hearing, would easily hear.

Turning he stared up at where she stood, framed with light from inside the house. Expression blank, he opened the car door and slipped inside next to Emily, who smiled happily at her husband, reversing the car down the driveway.

Leah was half way down the steps when she realised what the bonfire meant. Dragging a guy she barely knows, and isn't entirely sure she likes, to meet all her friends and family (plus a guy who hated his guts for no apparent reason), all in on the secret he didn't know.

Shit.


	4. Hear Them Whisper As We Pass By

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are amazing! I am continually surprised by the comments and kudos I'm getting for this crack ship. Thank you.
> 
> I can't for the life of me figure out how to EASILY put words into italics here. When I try, it makes the whole text one huge blob. So thoughts and certain words that should be italicised to make it easy for you guys are not. Sorry.
> 
> And in honour of the amazing Taylor Swift, I've renamed the chapter titles with lyrics from her album 1989.

After talking to Sam, Leah crept into the dark forest, rapidly undressing, hoping to quickly envelope herself in the relief of the woods.

She wished.

I don't think I've ever heard Emily so angry, Quil commented.

Leah groaned, banging her furry head into a tree trunk, Shut up! she snarled.

How was your walk with Blondie? Jared asked innocently.

Steve, Leah corrected automatically, And none of your goddamn business.

Did he tell you he's an artist? Isn't that so cute? said Paul sweetly.

How'd he get those muscles if he was sitting on his ass all day? Jared rolled his eyes, which made him look a little manic in his wolf form.

Steroids, man, Paul said wisely, Only thing that makes sense. Your boyfriends' a junkie.

You should know, replied Leah sweetly, and the pack hooted at her response. Paul glowered.

For real though, Embry said, He did smell kind of wrong. Like metal, and acid and burning.

All the wolves turned their large heads to stare at him. Everyone knew Embry had the best sense of smell in the pack due to an incident involving a stolen pair of socks and a heap of cow crap.

I didn't smell anything weird, Jared said, He was just really... clean.

The pack murmured their agreements.

Leah? Quil asked, What does he smell like to you?

Leah couldn't keep her thoughts from tumbling out. Mint and soap, the old kind that's plain and pretty basic, and a hint of motorbike fumes.

Mint? Quil said, So when you kiss him he'll taste like toothpaste?

Shut up, Leah groaned, her growl edged with an oddly nervous note.

Don't worry, it's probably just my heightened senses. And he said he was from New York City, so maybe that's just what the city smells like, Embry rationalised.

Nodding her thanks, Leah stopped to from at him, Are you being nice to me? she said. The words sounded angry, but they were asked out of bewilderment.

You're not being mean to me, Embry said back warily.

After a pause, Leah huffed and turned away.

Hey! Where do you think you're going? Jared said, sounding playful, You have to show us your walk in the forest with Prince Charming.

Unbidden, the whole scene flashed in her mind, allowing the others to see.

Nice bike, commented Jared.

I so could have taken that artsy-fartsy jerk down, Paul snarled, He blushes as soon as you look at him!

It's cute! Seth replied to Paul, speaking up for the first time, It means he likes her.

I love that innuendo, said Quil cheekily, Are you gonna take him up on that offer? he asked her innocently.

The Fuck you she replied with was so strong it almost knocked him off his feet.

He's brave, Jared said, He was down right embarrassed, so I don't think he meant it like that, but when he realised the double entendre, he committed to it. Man's got guts.

You lot gossip worse then a bunch of old women, snapped Leah, turning around to run.

* * *

As she lay in bed at night, doubt attacked the imprint. What if they weren't 'supposed' to be together,and it was all just a big mistake? What if he did freak out? What if they were both so screwed up they made each other worse? What if, what if, what if...

* * *

"Are you pumped or what?" Seth grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Leah opened one eye groggily, wincing at the sunlight invading her room through open curtains.

"You're gonna ask him out..." he sung happily. Leah heard her cupboard being thrown open, and a piece of cloth landed on her head. Pulling it off curiously, she realised it was a low cut red top. A top she last wore when Sam had told her...

"Seth get out," she told him firmly, if still slightly croaky.

"Mum's got breakfast ready, so get ready quickly. Wear that top," he instructed her, "and wear that French perfume you got."

"Seth," she snarled.

"All right, all right, I'm going. Gone!" he called from the other side of her now shut door.

Dragging herself out of bed, she stared at the shirt, stroking the silky red material with her thump. Curious, she pulled it over her head. The fit was slightly more snug then the last time she wore it, before she'd shifted. The red still brought out the golden tones in her skin like nothing else.

She ripped it off and threw it under her bed. She wasn't going to try to glam it up for Steve. If he didn't like her in jeans and tee shirts, then he didn't deserve her in the sexy red top. That was her logic, at least the version she told herself. And it was true, to a point. But the true reason had more to do with the top's history then she cared to admit.

It was what she wore when Sam proposed. She made a mental note to give it away.

She pulled on a plain grey tee and shorts, and walked down the stairs. Halfway down, she turned back, racing to her cupboard, and adding a squirt of the French perfume a friend got her years ago.

She marched down the stairs, ignoring Seth's eyebrow wiggle when he sniffed her perfume. Ignored the breakfast her mother had set out, she locked the front door behind her breathing heavily. If she had anything to eat, she might just puke.

* * *

Halfway to the Forks Motel, Leah realised the perfume was a bad idea. It had slowly overwhelmed her nose, it's soft rosy scent becoming too sweet, almost sickly so. It made her twitchy and paranoid, and she was forever glancing over her shoulder, searching for an impossibly fast white blur.

Leah ran the rest of the way to the motel, sweating off a large amount of perfume. The motel was simply a set of short buildings in a long line, all opening up on a gravel car park. Steve had not told her the number of his room. Glancing around, making sure no one was watching, she lifted her nose, and breathed in all the scents around her.

There it was - Steve's fresh, minty soap smell. She followed it to the room with a number thirty in rusted bronze on the door, and as she got closer, she noticed a spicier, sweeter, more feminine scent mingling with his.

Ignoring it, she knocked on the door, crossing her fingers, then uncrossing them quickly.

"Yes?" the door opened, but it was not Steve Rogers standing there. A smaller, red headed woman eyed Leah carefully, before breaking out into a small, but perfect, smile.

"Can I help you?" she asked, quirking her petite eyebrows.

"Where's Steve?" Leah asked bluntly. Her shock and anger and hurt transformed her face into an emotionless mask.

The woman cocked her head, "Asleep," she said, "who are you?"

Leah opened her mouth to snap back, managing to shut it just in time.

"Never mind, I'll come back in a couple of hours," she said, turning to go.

"Wait!" a voice she recognised called, sending her spinning around.

"I wasn't asleep, just lying in bed, being lazy," Steve blushed, running a hand though his hair, though nothing could distract Leah from those delicious golden abs.

"Shirt," the red-headed woman ordered him, and his blush reached down to his neck. He disappeared for a second, reemerging wearing a tight white tee.

"Umm," he floundered for a minute while both women watched him carefully.

"Leah, this is Nata-Natalie, my... friend. Nat, this is Leah. She is, uh, we met at the beach?" he ended cautiously.

"She wanted you," Natalie told him. Leah wanted to bark at her for standing so close to Steve's steaming abs, or blush at Natasha's wording, but she managed to subdue the urge with a deep breath.

"Yes?" Steve asked, large blue eyes innocent.

"Some friends and I are having a bonfire at the beach tonight. I wanted to ask if you'd like to come," Leah said, hands fidgeting with the bottom of her shirt.

"Sure, we'd love too!" Steve grinned, "What time?"

"We?" Leah blinked, staring at him, then at beautiful Natalie.

"Oh. It's at five thirty tonight. I guess I'll see you there," she said, nodding goodbye. Steve grinned back, "See you then."

"Bye," Leah said, unable to force a smile back. Natalie gave a small jerk of her head to signal au revoir. The door closed, leaving Leah in the middle of an empty car park on a misty morning. Suddenly, the air seemed so much colder.

* * *

On the way to Sam's house, she felt numb. She couldn't help but think about how Natalie had opened the door, dressed only in a singlet and shorts. She and Steve were so comfortable around each other, like they've known each other for years. She walked up the creaky steps stiffly, the front door opening with a shriek.

"Kitchen!" she heard Emily call. Leah followed her voice.

In the kitchen, Jared was talking to Emily as she prepared sandwiches her him to take back to where the pack worked, at the garage. Seth and Quil were happily munching away on their sandwiches. It was holidays, so the house was constantly flooded with younger pack members.

"Leah!" Emily beamed, shooing her into a chair, and placing a mug of hot chocolate in her fingers.

"We were wondering how it went?" she asked, sliding the box of sandwiches over to Jared and sitting next to Leah.

"Fine," Leah snapped, "It went fine." She felt everyone glance at each other.

"Leah?" Seth asked hesitantly.

"It went fine. He's coming," Leah said, glaring at the steam rising off her drink.

"That's good, isn't it?" Quil asked, confused. Leah sent him a glare so nasty, he nearly knocked over his drink.

"I told you, he's coming," Leah said, "with his girlfriend."

The silence in the kitchen was loud enough to hear the 'oh shit' each person thought.

"That's okay," Jared was the first to react, "you of all people know you can't resist the imprint. He'll come round," he assured her.

"Yeah," Seth agreed, "and if he doesn't do it himself, we'll beat the crap out of him till he does." Quil nodded his agreement.

"Boys! Of the few things violence can solve, making someone love someone else is not one of them," Emily snapped, and the boys hung their heads.

Leah banged her head on the tabletop.

"Okay, everyone out! Leah needs alone time," Emily hustled the boys out, waiting until she heard the front door close, turning and facing Leah.

"They're right, you know," Emily told her, "he'll come around."

Leah growled, "That's not... that's not it," she said, going to put her head in her hands, then backtracking, sitting straight, arms folded on the table.

"I know what will happen with him, Emily. And I know exactly how his girlfriend will feel," Leah said, willing back tears, "I don't," she choked back a sob, "no one deserves that," she finished in a small voice.

"Oh my god, Leah," Emily whispered, placing her hands over her mouth, "I'm so sorr-"

"Don't say you're sorry," Leah interrupted.

"I, I haven't forgiven you, not completely," she tried to explain, "But I'm getting there."

Emily stared at her cousin from her seat across the table, "Thanks, Leah," she said softly.

Together, the two women sat in subdued silence for what felt like a lifetime.

"Okay," Seth stepped in from behind the door, "Before you-"

"Seth!" Emily hissed, "I told you to go. I thought you were gone!"

Seth rolled his eyes, "Jared and Quil left. You think I'd leave my sister behind? What kind of brother do you think I am?" he stared at Emily with his big warm brown eyes.

"Seth, go away," Leah hissed, her voice muffled from her head resting on her arms.

Seth's face fell as he realised how hurt his sister really was.

"Did he say, 'this is my girlfriend,' or anything like that?" he asked seriously.

Leah sat up, "he paused, then said Natalie was his 'friend'," she explained duly.

"Tell me exactly what he said, Leah," Seth told her.

Leah threw her hands in the air, "this is Natalie, my," she paused dramatically, "friend."

"Maybe he had a relationship with her! Maybe he used to like her, or he's friends with her boyfriend! Maybe she's gay. Who knows?" Seth said, "Don't start worrying about it. You don't know what exactly is going on," he put her hands on his hips, staring at Leah sternly.

She glared back, then broke into a grin, "My god Seth, you sound just like mum."

Leah and Emily burst out laughing, washing away the pain from moments before.

Emily sobered up when she saw the annoyed expression on Seth's face, "There are worse people to be like," she offered, and Seth cracked a smile.

* * *

Despite Seth and Emily's pep talks, Leah was growing increasingly nervous the closer it got to five thirty. She went though the motions of helping everyone set up, getting wood for the bonfire, running down to the store to get ice for the drinks.

At five twenty five exactly, two figures came from the beach car park, picking their way through the sand. Everyone paused for a second, turning to look at the newcomers, then going back to their activities. The boys were having an arm wrestling tournament, and Emily and Sue were setting up the food. Leah sat with her back to Steve, and though she smelt his scent, she continued to watch the flames of the fire flicker.

A hand patted her on the head, and she looked up to see Billy looking down at her. He gave her a small smile, then turned back to watch the flames.

Sighing, Leah stood up and turned around. Steve broke into a big grin when he spotted her, throwing a large wave. He introduced himself to Emily, then handed her a large bowl. She thanked him profusely, her eyes scanning him and his companion.

"Steve," Leah nodded, "and Natalie," she offered the woman a strained smile. Natalie returned it, except her's was not at all strained. She looked genuinely happy.

Steve raced up to her, coming to a stop in front of her, arms hanging awkwardly like he wasn't sure what to do with them. He paused, uncertain, then offered her a hand to shake. Leah stared at him curiously, then shook it.

If Leah, or any one of the pack had been looking anywhere other than at Steve (or in Leah's case, his blue eyes), they would have noticed Natalie's eyes rolling as she hit herself over the head.

"So, you made it," Leah filled the awkward silence.

"Happy to be here," Steve beamed, staring back into her gorgeous brown eyes, hints of honey looking like molten gold.

"Food's ready," Emily hollered. The boys jumped up from where they stood around the arm wrestling table, racing over to the food. Well trained, they lined up behind Jared, waiting impatiently.

"Guests and ladies first," Emily explained to a confused looking Steve, waving everyone else over to the food. When Leah went to line up behind the boys, Emily glared at her and shook her head sharply. Cautiously, Leah followed all the non-pack members, ignoring the playful glares sent by her pack mates, and loaded up her paper plate with just under a dozen hot dogs. She sat down at the campfire, next to Natalie, glancing over at Steve, who was happily munching away. That's when she realised he had a good dozen hot dogs stacked up on his plate.

Natalie noticed her staring and rolled her eyes again, "He always eats like a god damn horse," she told Leah, smirking. Leah couldn't help but smile back, finding Natalie's good humour oddly contagious, especially when she wasn't sure she liked her.

"I'm big, okay? I need protein," Steve protested, his eyes twinkling.

"Keep telling yourself that," Natalie said, she and Leah sharing another grin.

Emily cleared her throat as everyone munched through their dinner.

"So, Steve, Natalie, what do you do?" she asked. Steve's smile immediately dropped off. He looked faintly panicked.

"We're both on leave from the army," Natalie said calmly.

Paul snorted, "You're in the army?" he laughed. Steve immediately frowned at him, but Natalie wasn't bothered.

"I'm more of a consultant, actually," she smiled, "though I'm not really supposed to talk about it."

Paul sniggered, "Of course," he laughed. Jared whacked him over the back of the head, then continued to stuff his face.

Steve was still staring at Paul. Slowly his gaze moved over to Sam. Maybe he hadn't seen them, or maybe he hadn't recognised them. A furrow began between his eyebrows. It didn't go away as he munched carefully on his sausage, looking slightly suspicious.

Once they finished eating, Billy Black told the story of Taha Aki, the Cold Ones and the Spirit Wolves. Even Leah, who had heard the stories so many times she could recited them from memory, word for word, was entranced by the web of tales Billy weaved.

"That was amazing," Steve said softly. Leah smiled. No one could tell their history like Billy could.

Slowly, the pack drifted towards the table they were using for their arm wrestling tournament. Leah and Steve followed, watching the competition, while Natalie walked towards the water's edge.

* * *

Natasha had been watching everyone at the bonfire, reading them all. When the group broke up, she followed the one most likely to tell her everything to the waters edge.

"I'm Nat," she grinned cheerfully at the dark haired girl, who sat with her feet in the water, watching the sun set.

"Oh," she turned, surprised, "I'm Kim," she introduced herself.

"Kim, I don't want to pry, but is something going on with that big guy, Sam, and Leah?" Natasha asked, "It's just, Steve kind of likes her, (but don't tell him I said that) and he was kind of worried he might be interfering."

"So you two aren't together?" Kim asked, an innocent expression on her face.

Natasha shook her head, "Nope."

A mischievous grin formed on Kim's face, and Natasha knew she was about to get the motherload.

"Leah'll be happy. But you didn't hear that from me," Kim peaked over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening.

"Sam and Leah were engaged. Then Sam met her cousin Emily, and that was it. Both of them, head over heels," Kim whispered.

"Why does she still hang around them? I'd run fast as I could!" Natasha said, not as shocked as she pretended to be, but not unmoved either.

"Well, we're all pretty close, you know? All grew up together. And Leah and Em were super close before. I think Leah's sort of forgiven her?" Kim pondered.

"What about Leah and Sam?" Natasha asked, curious.

"She still hates him. Not really sure how he feels about her- I mean, she did make life pretty miserable for him for years."

"Can you blame her?" Natasha asked, "That's disgusting!" The disbelieve and revulsion she felt were strong enough that Natasha wasn't sure if she herself had answered, or if it was simply the persona she wore.

Kim faltered, "The circumstances were kind of weird. But Emily did turn him down for ages, because she didn't want to hurt Leah's feelings? I think she realised it was too late, and they got together anyway."

"But you're right. Sam can still be a bit weird when it comes to Leah. Like, he still loves her a little bit? Did Steve tell you what happened on the cliff yesterday? All the guys were talking about it," Kim asked.

"No. What happened?" Natasha asked, deeply suspicious.

"The guys went cliff diving, and Steve was there. I guess Sam knew Leah kinda liked Steve, because Sam just lost it. He nearly shi- uh," for a second, Kim looked panicked, "lost his shit."

"Mm-hmm," Natasha hummed, "weird."

"Leah's a good person. I just wanted to tell you, 'cause you seem protective of Steve. She's had a tough life she didn't deserve. But under all of the prickles and spikes, she's incredible," Kim told her. Natasha smiled back.

"Good to know."

"What are you guys talking about?" a voice called out. Both women turned around to see Leah looking at them suspiciously. Kim looked panicked again, but Natasha just smiled.

"Kim was just telling me how beautiful the sunsets around here could be," she said.

Kim let out a small sigh of relief. Natasha stood up, dusting sand off her pants.

"Where are the toilets?" she asked Leah politely.

"Up near the car park," Leah pointed towards them.

"Thanks," Natasha seemed honestly thankful, despite having seen them when she first arrived. She started walking away, then stopped.

"Leah, we have room for one more in our car if you need a lift home," she offered.

Confused, Leah nodded.

"I'd like that."

* * *

When Leah left Steve at the arm wrestling table, she forgot how volatile Sam and Steve's first meeting had been.

Standing by the table, watching, Steve realised someone was watching him. Looking up, he saw Sam, frowning at him over the table. Steve nodded back, not wanting to start any thing. Though if something did start, he'd gladly jump in. Sam walked over next to Steve, crossing his huge arms over his chest.

"Why'd you bring her?" he asked Steve, who mirrored his movements, crossing his arms.

"Natalie? Is there some reason I shouldn't have?" Steve asked back, in a perfectly civilized tone.

Sam glowered, but made no move to uncross his arms.

"Stay away from Leah," Sam said.

"Why do you care? You're married," Steve nodded to the gold ring on Sam's finger.

"None of your damn business," Sam thundered lowly.

"I'll stay away from Leah when Leah tells me to. I'll pack my bags and leave for good. But only if she decides so. It's her decision," Steve told Sam sternly, "Not anyone else's."

The pack was not sure what to do, once again the bystanders of what looked like was about to become an epic fight.

Seth piped up, trying to break the mood, "Hey, Steve, think you can beat me?" he called mischievously. Steve grinned.

"You're on," he called. Embry and Quil made room for Steve to sit down, sliding across the wooden bench. Steve and Seth grasped hands, grinning at each other.

Jared called, "Ready, steady... GO!" and within a second, Steve had Seth's hand flat against the hard wood of the table. The pack roared with laughter, clapping both guys on the back. But Embry was confused.

"Why did Seth let Steve win?" he asked Jared curiously, under the noise the rest of the pack was making.

"Trying to get in good with the future brother in law," Jared explained, laughing. No one noticed the stunned expression on Seth's face as he stared at his hand.

"Can I have a go?" Sam asked. The noise disappeared, and the pack looked at Steve, ready for the volley of insults to begin again.

"Sure," Steve said. Sam gestured of Seth to get of the bench, but he paused, worried. Prompted by a heavy glare from Sam, Seth reluctantly stood up. Sam took his place on the bench, and the two men clasped hands. Sam turned to looked at Jared, wondering why he wasn't calling them to start. Jared cleared his throat.

"Ready, steady, GO!" he called. Unlike with Seth, Sam didn't have his hand immediately forced against the wooden tabletop. Surprisingly, neither did Steve.

They stared across the table at each other, their hands shaking with effort. Steve started pushing Sam's hand closer and closer to the table, until Sam's muscles gave up, and his fist thumped against the weathered wood. Relieved, the pack cheered.

Steve offered his hand for Sam to shake, "Good game," he told the larger man.

"Good game," Sam said stiffly. Steve stood up.

"I'd better talk to Nat. She'll be mad I left her so long. Thanks for the game, Sam, Seth," Steve nodded, walking away to where Leah and Kim stood, looking out at the waves. Kim said something to Leah, and she smiled.

The pack converged on Sam, clapping him on the arm.

"Didn't think you had it in you to let him win," said Jared, impressed, "Way to be the better man, Sam."

"I didn't," Sam said softly, watching Steve's retreating back.

"What?" Jared asked, the rest of the pack quieting watching the exchange in confusion.

"I did not let him beat me," Sam said slowly. They stared. They then turned as one to stare at Steve. His hand was dangerously close to their pack mate's as they watched the dimly glowing moon together.

* * *

"Steve," Natalie called out, "I think we'd better go, a couple of cars have been broken into in the car park. I'm scared to leave mine there."

The men were all approaching Steve, but paused at Natalie's words.

"Which cars?" Jared called out.

"Um, a black ute and a red one. Windows and lights smashed, and the paints pretty scratched," Natalie said, frowning innocently.

"Black ute?" Paul said, "SHIT!" he took off up the sand dunes to his car.

"Red?" Jared said, "Sam, isn't that yours?" he asked curiously. Sam groaned, and followed Paul across the sand at a break neck speed.

"Are you guys ready to go? I don't want to leave my car up there any longer," Natalie asked.

"Yeah, sure," Steve said, marching up the dunes.

"And Leah needs a ride home, so she's coming with us," Natalie said casually. Steve grinned to himself, and he and Leah walked together.

Upon arriving at the car, Leah realised the passenger seat was filled with bags. Noticing her look, Natalie explained, "Emily gave me some leftovers to take home. To be honest, I'm surprised there were any with the amount everyone ate, but I'm grateful. She certainly knows how to cook!" Natalie beamed, slipping into the drivers seat of the black convertible, doing up her seat belt.

Steve awkwardly opened the back door for Leah to climb in, slipping in after her. The back was cramped and small, but neither person minded all that much, and after a conversation that was as flowing and stilted as Steve himself, the two exchanged numbers.

It wasn't until they'd dropped her home that she realised Natalie had a far nicer car then two rusty old pickup trucks. Why hadn't the thieves left a dent in the perfect paint job?

* * *

"I thought something trickier and nastier was more your style," Steve said, leaning forward from the back to look at Natasha as they drove back to their motel.

To her credit, Natasha did not pretend she didn't know what he was talking about.

"Sometimes, you have to take victory in the little things, Steve," she explained. Steve leant back in his seat, resting his head on the back.

"I get Paul, but what did Sam do to you?" he asked curiously.

"Wasn't personal," Natasha said vaguely. Knowing he wasn't going to get any more out of her, he sighed.

"They aren't going to find out it was you, are they?" Steve asked.

"What do you take me for, a common vandal? I wore gloves, and I used a rock I found. It's in the boot."

"Do you take gloves everywhere with you?" Steve wondered. Natasha didn't answer, so he took it as a yes. For half an hour, the drove in silence.

"Why are you here, Nat?" Steve asked wearily.

"Checking up on you. Someone has to watch your back," said Natasha.

* * *

When he got back to his room, he collapsed on his bed, his confused brain tired. Just like this morning, he dreamed of a girl. But brown hair turned black, and pinup curves turned to daring muscle. Red lips turned pink. But the sharp wit and determined attitude remained the same. And for the first time, Steve realised he could let go of Peggy. She had a good life, a wonderful husband and children.

And Steve's romance was just beginning.

* * *

eth practically battered Leah's bedroom draw down when he raced inside. Leah had heard him thumping up the stairs when he was dropped home from the bonfire, but she had thought he was excited, not downright panicked.

"Seth?" she said, standing up, her little brother running toward her, only to stop in front of her, breathing heavily.

"What is it?" she demanded, "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Seth shook her head, "It's about Steve." Cold dread ruptured from the pit of her stomach.

"He beat Sam at arm wrestling," Seth tried to convey the urgency.

"What?" Leah was confused.

"Sam and Steve were arm wrestling, and everyone thought Sam let Steve win. But he didn't. And he beat me too, easy. I mean, that was kinda weird, but beating Sam is just... impossible," he breathed out.

Leah only stared at her babbling brother.

"He's stronger then Sam, Leah. And Embry says he smells weird on like, a deeper level then most people, and he shared it with me, and it was just wrong, Leah," Seth looked at her with sad eyes.

"I find out my imprint actually likes me back, doesn't have a girlfriend, only that he's some kind of super strong freak," she said, plonking back down on her bed.

"I... " Seth tried to comfort her, but he didn't know what to say.

"Leah," they looked up to see their mother in the doorway, "you have no idea what is up with him. Sure, maybe he's taking some unknown drug that can make you the strongest person alive, but maybe he's a different shapeshifter from around the world. You can't be the only ones. It'd explain why you imprinted on him," Sue comforted her daughter.

"But then he would have imprinted on me, mum," Leah said, swallowing back tears for the second time that day.

"Well, maybe where he's from, it works differently," Seth offered, trying to help.

"Let us worry about it for now, darling. Go to sleep," Sue cooed, stroking Leah's hair. Leah's emotionally exhausted body soon fell asleep. And even with the information Seth had loaded onto her, she dreamed of blue eyes and blond hair.


	5. You're Thinking That I Hate You Know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot begin to thank you guys enough. You are all amazing.
> 
> Title and all chapter titles are from Taylor Swift's 1989 album.

The pack met at ten in Emily's kitchen, which she had transformed into a war room, whiteboard by the window, with what looked like a game plan mapped out in marker. Emily herself was armed with a laser pointer, standing tall in front of the troops. She sent Leah a reassuring smile when she sat down on the kitchen bench.

"Wow, um, you really went all out," Leah observed.

"They wouldn't let me use the council rooms," Emily sounded annoyed.

"Because teachers are discussing teaching our language at the local schools. That was deemed more important," Sam was amused at Emily's annoyance, "As it should be," he told said.

"Okay people, listen up!" Emily roared over the cacophony of voices in the kitchen. Silence.

"I know everyone has heard of Steve's massive win over Sam in a strength competition," she said.

"Thanks dear," Sam said dryly from his place at the head of the table.

"I'm keeping you modest," Emily told him, and even Leah cracked a grudging smile.

"We have got to figure out how he got so strong. Where does he come from, has he got a record. Does he know about us? What are his intentions?" Leah thought Emily was enjoying being the General way too much, though she had to admit, she was good.

"I've been told Seth and Quil know a kid from school who can hack anything," Emily continued.

Seth nodded, "He's super bored at the moment, so he'll love a job."

Leah gave him a suspicious glare, and he stared back innocently, shrugging.

"Embry and Paul will be in charge of tracking his every move. Jared can go through his things while out-"

"Hey!" Leah snapped.

Emily sighed, "Leah, we are only doing this for your and the packs protection. They might be really bad at showing it, but they really do care about you," at this, the pack murmured, a mixture of mmhmms and nuhuhs, which Emily ignored. Though Leah couldn't help but be surprised at the number that agreed with Emily. The ones that didn't smiled cheekily at her, just like Seth used to do. The only outlier was Paul. Everyone ignored him.

"I care too. Steve and Natalie seem like nice people. But given the evidence mounting up against him, Steve is not... normal," she said earnestly.

"I could just ask him," Leah said desperately.

"If he asked what was weird with you, would you tell him?" Jared asked. Leah paused, thinking about it. The question did not seem as scary as it had before the bonfire.

"Yeah," she realised, "I would."

The pack was silent. Emily took a breath.

"You know him best, Leah. And we trust you. Ask him. But if he doesn't tell you..." she trailed off. Nobody wanted to say it.

"I know," Leah said, sliding off the bench, "I'd ask for a lift, but I think that would just bring back bad thoughts," she grinned. Sam and Paul groaned.

As she left, she heard Sam mutter to everyone, "no scent, at all. Whoever it was knew what they were doing."

* * *

Steve was walking back to his motel room after a morning jog. Leah caught up to him just as he entered the motel car park, trying not to drool at how his sweat soaked shirt stuck to his body. It was incredibly difficult.

"Hi Steve," Leah said, and he turned, grinning at her.

"Hey," he said cheerfully, getting the keys out of his pocket, opening the door. He gestured for Leah to go in, following after her. He showed her the minuscule kitchen table, nothing like the behemoth in Emily's kitchen, opening the fridge and offering her a drink. When she shook her head, he grabbed orange juice and a glass, gulping it down.

"I had fun last night," Leah said.

Steve grinned, and some orange juice spilled out of his mouth. Leah winced.

"Me too," he said, trying to wipe the sticky orange juice off his chin as he blushed.

"You know, I have never seen anyone beat Sam in anything like that. How did you do it?" Leah asked him.

He froze, horrified, the pink draining out of his face till he was a stark white.

"Guess I just train a lot," he said weakly, not meeting her eyes, "army and all."

Leah felt the sinking feeling in her stomach of when someone you love lies to you. She stood up.

"I'm going," she blurted out. She didn't let Steve see her to the door. Once she'd slammed it behind her, she took off at a dead sprint. She didn't know where she was headed. She just needed to run.

Maybe the reason she was the fastest was because she had the most problems to outrun.

Eventually, Leah found herself at the cliff, staring out to sea. Sitting down, she curled into a ball, watching the water toss and turn like some kind of massive monster. Having the wind buffet her hair around, whipping droplets across her face had a calming affect. Listening to the waves crashing into the cliff was hypnotizing.

Knowing that to the ocean, she was nothing but an insignificant human was somehow peaceful, calming.

After an hour, Leah stood up. Emily was right. Something had to be done.

But Leah was going to do it her way.

* * *

She was back at Steve's little motel room, crouching under the window. Muffled voices murmured inside. She heard the sharp jangle of keys, and the front door opened.

"Can we get those pastries with the chocolate cream?" she heard Steve ask hopefully.

"You're like a child," Natalie grumbled, and Leah heard a car door being opened.

"Is that a yes?" Steve teased, and another door slammed shut. She heard an engine start, then tires squealing on gravel. Soon, the thrumming of the engine had melded with the sound of the wind in the trees, until it was gone completely.

Taking a deep breath, she stood up, testing the window frame gently. It was stuck. All of the motel's windows had been melded shut by the wind and rain and years. Most guests just assumed they were locked. Leah knew better.

Glancing around, she used her inhuman strength to lift the window pane up, and slipped inside, landing on the bed placed directly beneath it.

Catching a whiff, Leah knew this was where Steve had been resting. She had to fight the urge to snuggle under the warm blankets, made stronger due to her guilt. She stood up. Despite having flopped on the bed, the sheets were still perfectly tucked, tightly folded, perfect hospital corners.

Well, he had said he was military.

* * *

Paul was not having a good day. Someone had ruined his prized possession last night, and he had a suspicion that they did something under the bonnet as well. He'd have to wait to go to the shop to see, but his baby was not running as smooth as usual.

And that ass Steve beat Sam in a stupid arm wrestling match. Paul knew very well if he could beat Sam, Steve would have beaten him in a fight too.

But of course, everyone's nervous, so he had to get up at seven in the morning to go to a stupid meeting at Sam and Emily's. Then there wasn't even any food left, because Emily gave all the leftovers to that red head last night.

So Sam sent him to the local shops to pick up some food. Thanks.

That was bad enough, but on the way there, Paul got pulled over by one of Charlie's deputies, and got a ticket because both his taillights were broken (which, you know, not his fault). The deputy told him it's not his fault either as he wrote down the sum.

He got to the shops to find that all the good food is gone, because some asshole in Forks is having a massive party. So he's stuck with the home brand crap. Then at the checkout, he was a dollar short, so he had to ditch the chocolate bar.

By then, Paul was fuming. Both his arms were shaking as he carried the groceries to the car, and his grinding jaw was giving him a blinding headache.

He dumped the bags in the back, and started up his car. He made it all the way out of the car park and onto the street until his car broke down.

Practically spitting, he slammed his door so hard he heard a hinge snap. That caused him to rip the hood up, and unfortunately, off. Yes, literally. And he still couldn't see what the fucking problem was.

At this point, he was not even trying to stop the shift when it happened, right there in the middle of the road. Even in his extremely angry state, he knows he has to run. He pushed off his hind legs, ignoring the left leg of his jeans that was still wrapped around his foot, and jumped around, toward the forrest. Something large and black out of the corner of his eye. BANG. He was flying through the air. He flipped himself around to land on his feet, and he was off into the trees.

"Should we call that in?" Steve asked, stunned, as he and Natasha watching steam curl up from underneath the squashed bonnet of her car.

"To who? The auto shop or animal control?" Natasha snarked back.

* * *

Leah quickly realised that Natalie must be staying in another room, as the small room remained empty of any feminine objects.

She had found two things of note in her search. She wasn't sure which was scarier.

In the bedside drawer was a sturdy, high grade torch, and some kind of large hand gun. She didn't know one type of gun from the other, but it looked nasty. The draw below contained a large drawing pad, filled with notes and sketches, and the occasionally beautifully detailed landscape or portrait. Leah felt guilty for looking through something that what was obviously private, but knew she'd rather do it than have someone else.

The first few pages were filled with black and white sketches, of forests and ruined cities. A group of men, resting around a camp fire, laughing. A handsome man in an old soldier's uniform. Then a beautiful woman in a flattering red dress, curls pinned precisely to her head. As Leah flicked through the pages, the woman popped up again, smiling, laughing, frowning. Leah's favourite of the woman was where she held a gun in both hands, fierce look in her eyes as she shot at something Steve had not bothered to draw.

About midway through the pad, other people were introduced. Natalie lying on the beach, scowling over her sunglasses at the viewer. A huge blonde man playing scrabble with two petite women. Sitting at a lab was an older man sheepishly hiding behind glasses and curly brown hair. Next was a page with two men side by side. The first was younger with a mustache and a lab coat, smirking. The other wore an AC/DC shirt, arms crossed, similar expression on his bearded face. Leah though they looked strangely familiar.

The last few pages were filled with sketches of beautiful eyes under sharp brows. As Leah flipped through, she came to the final sketch.

She was beautiful. Leah remembered that night on the beach, the first time she met him. He'd captured the odd, conflicted feelings in her eyes. Steve must have drawn it from memory.

He knew she was broken too.

Leah dropped the pad into the drawer like it had burnt her, slamming it shut. She dug her fingernails into her shaking fists, trying to breath. Scrambling to the floor, she looked under the bed. A large, square art folio sat there. It was huge, thick to the point the seams were strained slightly.

Leah wasn't sure she could bare to look at more paintings. But if she didn't...

She slid the folio towards her, turning it around to find the zip. It was lighter than she had thought, considering it's bulk. To her surprise, there was a small padlock. Her lock picking skills were zero, but she could force it open. But then he'd know someone had been there. She grabbed the side seam that was practically splitting already. Maybe if she just ripped it a little, she could have a small peak.

It was locked for a reason. Maybe he's an art thief, she thought dryly, ripping the seam open by half an inch.

In the little window she had created, no paper or canvas could be seen. All that was visible was some kind of lightweight metal, painted bright cherry red. Holding it in her hands, Leah realised the package was circular shaped. Too thin to be a wheel. And wheels were straight, not concave. Maybe a bowl? Or perhaps her stupid joke to herself was right, and it was some kind of modern sculpture.

On a hunch, Leah pinched the edge of the metal between her thumb and her forefinger. It was too light to be that strong, and it should have bent like melted butter between her fingers. The unknown metal didn't give at all, remaining as perfect as before.

The sturdy black gun appeared in Leah's head. Along with the immoveable metal, it didn't paint a pretty picture.

She jammed it back under the bed and sat, crouched on the cold floor, thinking. He said he was in the army... but no amount of training could have given him enough strength to beat Sam. No amount of drugs, either. The sound of a car approaching flickered through her ears, but her concentration remained on the questions circling inside her head.

He isn't human, she concluded. Keys sounded in the front door, snapping her abruptly out of her thoughts.

She leapt onto the bed, squeezing through the window once again.

"Hey!" a familiar voice yelled. Leah broke into a dead sprint, bare feet crunching on dried pine needles as she raced through the forest. She couldn't see him, but she could hear Steve catching up, hot on her heels. That should have been impossible. Not even Sam could catch her when she started running.

Mid leap over a fallen log, she shifted. Her clothes split into pieces, falling into bushes, on the ground.

No matter what Steve was, he couldn't catch her now.

* * *

Having lost the trail of whoever-or whatever-had looked through his room, Steve turned around to head back out of the trees. As he turned, he spotted a misplaced scrap of blue out of the corner of his eyes. Crouching, he picked it up, turning it over in his hands. He heard footsteps, and Natasha appeared, trying her best not to pant.

"You didn't catch them?" Natasha frowned.

"Too fast," Steve said, rubbing his chin slowly, turning the cloth over in his hand.

Natasha cocked her head at the gesture, "Out with it," she ordered.

"I could swear I saw a person-a human figure running, but once we got into the trees..." he stood up and handed her the cloth, "it was grey. And bigger. A lot bigger."

With a look, he told her his suspicions about the huge wolf in the middle of the road.

"This looks like it came from a shirt. See part of the collar?" Natasha pointed out.

"There's more. Little pieces, scattered around here," he pointed. He and Natasha spent the next half hour collecting clothing scraps. There was denim too, from what appeared to be a set of jean shorts.

"What happened here?" Steve asked himself quietly, unable to make sense of it. Someone's clothes had been ripped to pieces, yet there was no blood. Not on any of the scraps, or the ground.

"I'm calling for backup," Natasha snapped, marching back to the cabin. Steve knew her well enough to know she didn't want to admit that she didn't have any answers.

He trailed after her, trying to convince himself it was a coincidence Leah had been wearing the same thing that morning, when she ran when he lied.

He got out his mobile to call her.

* * *

"WHAT?" Leah heard Sam thunder as she walked up the steps. She winced, took a step back. Shoulders back, back straight, and she walked into the house.

Paul was slouching on the couch, arms crossing his body defensively.

"I had a really bad day, then you send be out for food and I get a fine, and Scarlett breaks down!" Paul really was upset, Leah mused, sliding behind Seth, the guy was nearly in tears.

"Scarlett?" she asked Seth, who shrugged.

"I think that's what he calls his car," Quil explained, quieting when Paul sent him a glare.

"Did anyone see?" Sam asked quietly, trying to regain his composure.

Paul chewed his lip, mumbling something under his breath.

"Pardon?" Sam asked, oddly calm. Paul groaned.

"I don't know," he said.

"What does that mean?" Sam asked, even more softly then before.

"I shifted, then a car came out of the car park, and I ran into it. Then I ran. But I don't think anyone saw me shift," he added quickly.

"You don't think?" Sam said slowly, "and what about the people whose car you crashed into? They think a horse sized wolf just appeared on the damn road, do they?"

"I don't know!" Paul snarled back, jumping up, "I don't fucking know, okay?" he yelled.

"That's not good enough!" Sam roared back, anger flaring through his voice. Paul almost fell back down on the couch, ducking his head.

"What kind of car was it?" Sam growled.

"Black, I think. Mighta been a sports car or something," Paul muttered, and the bottom of Leah's stomach dropped.

Sam growled, and marched into the kitchen, gesturing for Leah to follow. She sat at the table, Sam going for a mug on the bench.

"Do not break that," Emily snapped at him, sitting down next to Leah. Sam rolled his eyes, but took a deep breath, carefully pouring himself some tea before sitting down at the table.

"What did he say?" Emily asked gently, Sam sipping forcefully.

"He said he just trained a lot with the army," Leah said, trying not to grow as she repeated the lie he had told her.

"So then we've got to-" Emily started.

"I already have," Leah interrupted. Sam coughed around a large mouthful of tea.

"I wasn't caught, and I was careful," Leah told him, hoping he wouldn't catch her sort-of lie. She already felt bad that she was selling her imprint out.

"He didn't have a lot of stuff in his room. There was a massive drawing pad in his drawer. It had pictures of his friends, I guess, and... and me," Leah forced a smile, and Emily cooed.

"He had a gun," Leah admitted, ready for Sam's frown, "he said he was in the army. It's probably just for self protection at night. I've never seen him carry one around." Sam was still frowning.

"What type of gun was it?" he asked. Leah rolled her eyes.

"Like you'd know," she snapped. At a look from Sam, she threw her hands in the air.

"I dunno! A handgun. Something big and black," she snapped.

Emily placed a hand on her husband's arm, "Is that all?" she asked.

Leah thought about the mystery object under his bed. Should she tell? Did she need to?

"What?" Sam asked, noticing the indecision on her face.

"There was something under his bed, in an art folio. It was padlocked, but it was red, metal, and curved, like a large bowl. I couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe a sculpture, or something," Leah crossed her arms over her chest.

Sam and Emily shared another look, and Emily placed her hands on the table, obviously trying not to fidget.

"Sam and I have been talking, and we think-"

"It can't be drugs, or training, so he can't be human," Leah finished for for her. It felt weird to say it out loud.

"My imprint isn't human," she said, quieter, rolling the words and their meaning around in her mouth.

Emily asked the unspoken question that hung in the air.

"So what is he?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Seth asked, jumping up to sit on the table, grabbing an apple from the fruit basket.

"For god's sake, Seth!" Leah groaned, swatting him on the shoulder.

"Like everyone else isn't listening," he scoffed, crunching down on the crispy apple.

"What do you think he is, then, Seth?" Sam asked. He'd finally calmed down enough to laugh at Seth's antics.

"He smells like metal and chemicals n'stuff. He carries around metal, he's reluctant to talk about himself. And he's super strong. You only shook hands-I mean, who does that? Why didn't he hug you?" Seth grinned, "It's 'cause he's a-"

"ANDROID!" everyone in the living room yelled. Seth pouted.

"You ruined my reveal you ass-" he froze at the glare Leah gave him.

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Leah told him amusedly.

"No, listen! He carries the metal around to fix himself when he brakes, he won't talk about his past 'cause he doesn't have one, and he won't hug you-" "thanks" "-because then you'd feel the cogs and stuff!"

"Yes Seth," Leah rolled her eyes, "Because the guy I imprinted on, who's soul is the perfect match to mine, doesn't have one," she said.

"Well, when you put it like that," Seth considered embarrassedly.

"Still sounds possible to me!" Paul called tauntingly from the other room.

"Looks like your bad days goin' on for a while yet, asshole!" Leah snarled, standing up and stomping into the next room, Sam getting up to stop her with a sigh.

"How come she gets to say it?" Seth asked Emily pathetically.

Emily snorted.

* * *

Steve had been sitting on the bench outside the motel, desperately ringing Leah's number over and over again. She didn't pick up.

Natasha was combing every inch of both their rooms, to see if the snoop had left anything behind. Nothing.

"Either they got really lucky, or they're professionals," Natasha said, coming outside to sit next to Steve.

"I've got Clint bringing a fingerprint kit, though," she said, seeing Steve's annoyance.

"You didn't bring one in your purse?" Steve muttered. Natasha's brow rose.

"No need to be snappy. She's most likely at work. She'll call back soon," Natasha said.

"What if she doesn't want to?" Steve asked worriedly.

"Oh, she wants to," Natasha smirked. Steve looked at her suspiciously.

"You didn't do anything, did you? Other than the car thing?" he asked.

"How dare you?" Natasha snarked, "Just for that, I won't answer," she said primly.

Steve groaned. He thought about how Leah had known he wasn't telling the truth. How she ran. Then paused.

"Wait. You called Clint, not, y'know, the Avengers?" he asked.

"I assumed you wanted as few people as possible to be gossiping about your love life," Natasha said, "no more then already are, at least. I'll call Thor, Tony and Bruce if it gets too much for us to handle. But to be honest, I don't think a tiny place like this could handle Bruce. Thor's not currently 'in town', and Tony..." she left what Tony was unsaid. Which really said it all.

"Who is talking about my love life?" Steve asked eventually.

"Casey from Stark's HR swears the two of you spent a very steamy night together, where she taught you everything you know about the art of lovemaking," Natasha said dryly, managing not to smile despite Steve's stunned, confused, and more than slightly affronted gape.

"And Dr. Foster's assistant, Darcy, thinks you're gay, because you didn't check out her breasts."

"I was trying to be polite!" Steve frowned, not really sure how to react to any of this information.

"Don't worry, I assured her that she just didn't catch you," Natasha said sweetly.

"Thanks," Steve muttered, putting his head in his hands. He glanced up to see Natasha grinning at him.

"You're welcome."

Just as he was about to say something as a retort (he wasn't entirely sure what) his phone rang. He almost dropped it in his rush to pick it off the bench.

"Hi Leah!" he almost squealed in relief.

"My name is Sue," a mature voice said on the other end of the line, "I'm Leah's mother. I heard your messages, and just wanted to let you know Leah's fine," she said.

"Uh, thanks," Steve said confused.

"Leah doesn't have a mobile, if that's what you wondering," Sue said, "she'd loose it. This is our home phone number."

"Oh. Right. 'Course. Thank you very much, ma'am."

"Can I ask what's got you so worried?"

"We saw these massive wolves, and our-my friend's and mine-rooms had been broken into," he explained, Natasha looking on curiously.

"Oh," Sue said, her voice sounding distinctly infected, "I'll have to make sure Leah introduces us properly soon. I've got to go, sorry, pot's boiling over."

"Bye-" but she'd already hung up. Steve stared at his mobile.

Natasha elbowed him.

"Leah's mother. She knew something, either about the wolves or the brake in," Steve explained, "maybe both."

The two sat together in contemplative silence.

* * *

"Who. Got. Seen?" Sue thundered, framed by the front doorway, the stormy grey backdrop making her look all the more menacing.

Everyone paused, Sam holding Leah back from taking a swing at Paul.

"Do you know who just rang me? Steve. He was worried about my daughter, because he saw a massive wolf. Oh, and did you know his motel room was broken into?" Sue glared around at the frozen youths.

"Some better tell me what is going on. Immediately," she snapped.

Slowly, everyone turned to look at Paul.

"Steve saw you?" Sam was incredulous. Paul groaned.

"Of course it was Paul," Sue muttered under her breath. But everyone heard.

"Did you do the breaking and entering too?" she asked.

"That was me," Leah admitted, "Seth told you last night something was weird with him, so I had a peak. He's not human, mum," she said.

"Then what the hell is he?" Sue asked. Leah shrugged, followed by Seth and the younger boys, who all looked guilty, despite being completely innocent.

Sue put a hand to her head, then asked in a quieter voice, "Did you find anything?"

"Nope," Leah shook her head at the same time Sam said, "Yes."

Leah frowned at him. They hadn't really found anything that couldn't be explained

. For all they knew, the metal was some expensive motorcycle part Steve had to replace.

"Gun in the drawer," Sam said without looking at her.

"He said he was military! He actually knows the type of gun, unlike you!" Leah snapped.

"A gun?" Sue sounded suspicious, and more than a little worried.

"He was traveling by himself for a while! Maybe he wanted a little protection," Leah said, annoyed that Sam had to bring up the one detail that would make her mother rethink Steve.

"From what I've heard, he could do enough damage without a god damn gun!" Sue snapped.

"I thought you were mad at Paul for being seen?" Seth piped up, trying to distract his mother from the argument that was about to boil between his family.

When his mother turned her frown on him, he tried a different tactic.

"What, you were all teasing him before because 'oooh he arts' but nows it's all 'guns make him bad' even though he's in the military. Maybe you're all just pissed-" "Seth!" Leah and Sue snapped, "-cause he's better than you," Seth ignored them.

Sue considered Leah, and perhaps even (parts) of Seth's argument.

"Jared," she asked, and said man stepped forward, albeit after a push from his friends. He gulped under her scrutinizing stare.

"What was your impression of Steve?" Sue asked steadily.

"Brave. Could hold his own. Didn't back down in a fight, and he's got a lot of nasty barbs. But only after Sa-someone else started. And he's head over heels for Leah," Jared reeled off like a soldier to their general.

Leah bit her lip to keep herself from smiling. Her imprinted nature knew that was a good thing. Her brain was slightly more unsure.

If he was so in love with her, why did he lie?

* * *

Leah was stacking up the yoga mats in the corner after a late afternoon session the next day. Why people couldn't do something as simple as stack rubber mats was beyond her.

"Yo, Leah, there's this huge puppy faced dude at the front desk saying he's your brother," Kate said, popping her head round the door.

"Please don't tell me you hit on him," Leah asked, hearing that particular tone of mischief in Kate's voice.

"I did not!" Kate was outraged, "He hit on me," she smirked.

"He's seventeen," Leah rolled her eyes. Kate's smile dropped off her face.

"You gotta be joking," she begged.

"You wish," Leah retorted, heading for the front room.

"Don't know if this is exactly the right time to ask, but can you cover my shift tonight?" Kate asked sweetly, eyes huge and round. Leah turned around to glare at her.

"You have a date tonight and you were flirting with my baby brother?"

Kate shook her head, "He started it! Anyway, here are the keys for you to lock up, and Karen said something about a special client coming tonight after closing or something. Ciao!" and with that, Leah's not very trustworthy workmate fled past Seth, through the front door.

Seth stared after her, face blank.

"She's way to old for you, and totally untrustworthy," Leah told him sternly, thanking her lucky stars it wasn't an imprint.

He turned his head to look at her sheepishly.

"What are you doing here Seth?" she asked, putting her hand to her head.

"Mum needs the car to go out to the city with some friends. I can pick you up at the end of your shift though?" Seth said, doing his best to be cheerful while Leah groaned.

"Also, my friend from school got back to me," he said, not meeting her eyes again.

"This hacker better not get you sent to jail," Leah told him, attempting to look him in the eye. But he shied away.

She began threateningly, "Seth-"

"I wanted you to know first," Seth blurted out, fidgeting.

"There's nothing on him. Not anywhere on the internet does 'Steve Phillips' pop up," Seth explained.

"So?" Leah asked, frowning.

"Everyone has something. When you google your name, you get the name of your workplace, 'cause you're listed as a trainer. My name, school records. Awards and stuff. A young, twenty first century guy like him? It's gotta be deliberate," Seth told her this with a sombre expression, like someone had recently died.

"Maybe he changed his name recently. Or he works in the military. I dunno, there's gotta be a reason. He's not hiding or anything. He's not a bad person," Leah snapped at him. Just then, the bell rang, and a woman in fuchsia exercise gear walked in.

"Get set up, I'll be there in a moment," Leah told her waspishly, turning her back on the woman's offended expression.

"That woman that was with him, Natalie? There's nothing on her, either. Something's not right," he said with the uncomfortable expression of someone telling a sad truth.

"What did he say he was doing here?" he asked Leah. She glared back.

"Forks is kinda out of the way-"

Leah stared at him, then turned away slowly.

"I have a class to teach. I finish work at eleven."

* * *

Karen, Leah's boss, called her at ten thirty.

"Sorry about Kate, Leah. I know she's a pain, but-"

"She's you're sister's daughter, I know," Leah assured the older woman.

"She said something about a client coming after hours?" she asked, as shut down the computer.

"Yes, it was odd. He offered me five-well, a lot of money, to use the gym after hours, with no one around. Gave him a key and everything, but I never even met him. Granddad vouched for him though. Which is surprising in itself, considering the amount of people he can stand, let alone actually likes," Karen sounded bemused.

"Anyway, he'll be there at eleven, so can you be gone by then?" Karen asked.

Leah scowled, knowing Seth didn't have a mobile either, and she wouldn't be able to call him to pick her up earlier. She'd have to walk.

"Sure," she told Karen, in her best perky-Kate voice.

"And can you go down to the end room, make sure everything is working?"

"Yep."

"See you tomorrow," Karen said, hanging up. Leah slammed the phone into it's holder with a little too much force. The plastic case cracked. Digging her fingernails into her palms, she took a deep breath, then raided her bag. Like Paul, she had a habit of breaking things. Unlike Paul, she'd learnt to be prepared.

She pulled out a roll of duct tape, cutting off a strip with her teeth, and wrapped it carefully around the cracked work phone. It was an ugly job, but it would have to do. She raced down to the end gym, examining all the equipment, then grabbed a pen and paper, scribbled something down, then jammed it in the door as she left, locking it behind her, and walked through the now quiet streets of inner Forks. The smell of fuel was muted by the cold night air. The streets got emptier and emptier, till she was on the outskirts of town, just by the forest.

She wondered what Steve had done today, then shook him out of her head as best she could. Yet he was still there, a presence she couldn't quite ignore.

Leah had been planning to shift to get home faster, but she decided she like the cold air on her skin. The smell of the wildflowers was less obnoxious, more pleasant. The soft sigh of wind through tired leaves was peaceful. Hitching her bag over her shoulder, she decided to take her time.

* * *

Seth and Quil rocked up to the gym in Quil's fixer-upper of a car. They'd had the music blaring till an angry old (tall) lady walking her cat in her nightgown had started screaming at them.

Seth ripped the note off the door, Quil reading over his shoulder: Got off early, see you at home.

"If Leah's gone home, who's inside?" Quil asked. Seth looked up. While he couldn't see any lights on, the faint but steady thump of a punching bag being hit was unmistakeable.

Curiously, the boys followed the noise, going down the side alley to the back. A window at the bottom of the back wall was the only one the exuded light. Seth scrunched his nose, trying to remember the layout of the fitness centre.

"I think that's the gym for weightlifters, and professional boxers," he said, "Leah told me it hardly gets used because most people here are wimps."

Seth and Quil shared a look, then got down on their stomachs, ignoring the rasp of gravel, cupping their hands against the glass to see into the light.

The two could see a figure, working away at the bag. Whoever it was made no attempt at dancing on their feet like a boxer, steadily punching away at the heavy bag. The glass was too thick to see a face, and the bag was between the boys and the boxer.

"He's not bad," Seth muttered.

"We both know you don't know shit about boxing," Quil whispered back.

"Neither do you."

The thumping stopped, and both turned to check they hadn't been caught. The figure took one almighty swing, and then glass was splintering on the boys faces. Tiny pinpricks of white hot pain rained all over their faces.

They flinched away, covering their faces. It would heal in a minute or two-but the boys were in too much pain to remember that.

When they finally looked up, they got the shock of their life. Peaking out through the small window were two blue eyes, watching with a mixture of worry and confusion, as the boy's skin tried to heal over the imbedded glass.

They ran.

* * *

"Start the car!" Seth hissed. Quil tried to get the key in the ignition, but it wouldn't fit.

"Hurry," Seth panicked, checking over his shoulder.

"Not helping," Quil snapped, finally getting it in. They were off, the loud motor like thunder on the empty streets. They drove in silence until they reached Seth's driveway, panting like they'd run a marathon.

Swallowing, Seth clutched the door handle tightly.

"Do you think he saw us?" Quil asked.

"He looked right into our eyes. Unless he's blind, Steve definitely saw us spying on him," Seth let out a groan, his head thudding into the seat behind him.

"No, I mean," he gestured to the cuts on his face that were still valiantly trying to heal around the glass. They shared a scared frown.

Quil straightened up and took a deep breath, "He's gonna find out sooner or later, so no biggy. Right?" he asked worriedly.

"Right," Seth agreed, nodding vigorously, then pausing.

"He shouldn't have been able to do that. Those bags are heavy. It shouldn't have broken, or slammed into the window like that," Seth said, mind racing.

"You said that room was rarely used. Maybe the chain was rusted," Quil offered half-heartedly.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Leah snapped. Both boys jumped, having not noticed her walking out of the trees, bag slung over her shoulders. They shared a look under Leah's drilling frown.

They had to tell her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can anyone guess who the second member of the backup team is? Hint: They're not an Avenger!


	6. Should Have Slept With One Eye Open

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LOVE writing Clint Barton. And also Maria and Nat's friendship. I really hope you all enjoy the new chapter. Thank you guys so much.

"Steve did this?" Leah asked, and Seth wailed as she yanked the glass out of his skin with tweezers.

"Not exactly, but mostly yes," Quil explained, wincing as Leah neared his face with the metal torture device.

Leah scowled at the two evasive boys.

"Someone better tell me exactly what that means..." she left the threat hanging.

The two boys shared another look. Quil nodded for Seth to begin, receiving a glare in return.

"We got back from the city, and we saw the note, right?" Seth looked at Quil for support.

"Except there's someone still in the gym, in the back room that no one really uses. I guess we got curious, so we went round the back to peak through the window to the basement-you know, the one right at the bottom of the wall? And we see this guy, person, can't really see his face," Seth quickly said, not eager for the big reveal.

"And he's punching the bag-"

"Like it murdered his mother," Quil interrupted helpfully.

"And we watch him, maybe we're trying to get a look at his face, I don't know, and then he punches-he gives this massive punch, and the bag flies off the chain and into the window. Smashes the glass all in our faces," Seth swallowed, looking away from Leah's increasingly empty look.

"When we look up-it's Steve. Steve's looking right at us," He bit his lip, looking at his long fingers on the tabletop.

"We ran," Quil supplied, his breath hoarse.

For an age, so one spoke. No one looked at each other. Minutes carried on for hours.

"He shouldn't have been able to do that," Seth finally whispered.

"I told you, the chain was broken," Quil hissed.

"No, it wasn't," Leah spoke in a monotone, no emotion in her eyes, "I checked everything before our mystery after-hours client arrived."

"You knew he was coming?" Seth was bewildered.

"Karen said some guy payed a lot of money to use the empty gym after hours. Didn't get his name," Seth could see the muscles in Leah's jaw working.

"Are we gonna tell Sam?" Quil finally spoke up, looking nervously between the two siblings.

Leah didn't answer.

The front door opened.

"What the hell?" Sue screeched, racing up to the two boys.

"Why is everyone allowed to say that kind of stuff except me?" Seth fumed as his mother fussed over him.

* * *

After a discussion that lasted long into the night, two things were decided. Quil was not allowed to leave the house till his face healed over, and Sue would be the one to call Sam. Leah, curled up on the couch listening in on the civilised discussion her mother had with her alpha.

If she was the one telling him, there would be a hell of a lot more yelling. And that phone would most certainly be cracked beyond repair.

Sue eventually hung up the phone, sitting down next to her daughter. The older woman looked at her lap, short nails tapping at the black fabric of her pants.

"Sam's not happy," Sue eventually said.

"When isn't he?" Leah grumbled. Sue bit her lip.

"He asks that you get up first thing, check out the gym. See if there's anything there. Any clues to what Steve is..." Sue trailed off. The cynicism in the air between the two was palpable.

"That's all he wants?" Leah asked gruffly, straightening her back.

Sue chose her words carefully, well aware of the mangled cobweb of emotions and feelings between her daughter and almost son in law.

"He's not happy," she repeated slowly, "but he doesn't really know what to do. I suppose he'll have to look further into Steve."

"He's not a bad person!" Leah snapped angrily.

"I know that," Sue reached out to hold her daughter's clenched fist.

"But that doesn't mean he's not dangerous."

* * *

At five the next morning, Leah and the boys found themselves grumpily (and somewhat grudgingly) examining the scene of impact.

"Where's all the glass gone?" Quil muttered, searching for the shards that had not impaled themselves on him. The area around the small window was almost completely devoid of glass. The bitumen shone dully in the morning sun. Seth noticed there were no drops of blood on the road either.

There was one large piece of glass. Cut in a rectangle, perfectly fitted to the newly installed window frame.

"It-I swear that was broken!" Seth whispered, pointing at the window.

"Relax," Leah grumbled, crouching down, "it's new. So is the frame." She dragged one finger across the pristine surface.

"No dirt," she muttered. Seth and Quil shared a look, worriedly stepping closer together. Leah jumped up, power marching to the back door while digging her key out. She flung the door open, not bothering to switch the lights on, taking the steep concrete stairs three at a time. Seth and Quil hurried down behind her, flipping the switch to create light in the darkened basement.

She raced straight over o the punching bag hanging from a chain attached to a wooden beam. The chain was new, dull steel links strong as ever.

The bag itself, however, looked old. It was duct taped in places, just like it had been last night when she left it. Running her hands over it, she couldn't feel any shards of glass imbedded in it's exterior. The seams at the top, however, were perfectly tight, immoveable. It was new made to look old, Leah realised. She stepped back, feeling something inside her shrink.

"It's all been replaced," she explained slowly.

They stared at the bag, swinging slightly. Someone who could have done a cleanup job like this in the middle of the night... They had to have money. Connections. Intelligence. And a fear of being found out.

Someone like the Cullens.

* * *

Natasha didn't screech when Steve revealed what he'd done last night. She didn't fold her arms and quietly reprimand him either. She sat on the small motel bed, giving Steve her undivided attention as he explained. Honestly, he'd have preferred screaming.

He could feel sweat gathering on his forehead, and reached up a hand to scrub it away. Eventually, she let out out a sigh.

"We have to make sure those boys are okay," she said evenly. Steve reached up to wipe his brow again. An unconscious tell that did not escape the Black Widow.

"What are you not telling me, Rogers?" she said, her voice just as even as before.

He took a deep breath, paused, then attempted to explain. "They were fixing themselves up. The skin around the cuts was meshing together again. Healing," he elaborated. They sat in silence, Natasha perfectly still, Steve's jaw clenching.

"Super soldiers would explain the size of all the men," Natasha eventually said.

Steve shook his head, "They were surprised at seeing how hard I could punch. If they were super soldiers, they'd know me, and what I can do. Wouldn't they?" The question was not as rhetorical as Steve had hoped.

"Unless they're not as strong as you," Natasha said, "and they were reacting to that." Despite the silence and virtual immobility of her body, Steve could hear her brain ticking away.

"Half of them are just kids, Nat," he said, fighting to keep the anger out of his voice. Natasha looked at him, and Steve immediately tried to backtrack.

"Never stopped me," she said, daring Steve to look away.

"I'm sorry Nat. I know what happened to you, I just-no one likes to think what-"

"What evils innocent little children carry out?" Natasha asked. She hadn't blinked.

"That anyone could force a helpless little kid to do things experienced adults have nightmares over," he corrected her. After a pause she nodded, looking away. A small smile flitted across her face. Steve pretended not to see.

As quickly as it had come, her smile was gone.

"Steve. The fast healing. The huge wolf creatures."

He snorted, "I know. Something odd is going on here."

"Leah would know," she said innocently. Far too innocently for a world class spy.

"No," Steve said immediately, "Not going to happen."

* * *

"Hi, Sue," Steve sounded slightly strangled over the phone. The pack, plus Emily and Sue, were huddled in Sue's kitchen, staring at her wide eyed as she put the phone on speaker.

"How are you doing?" Sue asked politely.

"Yeah, great," Steve said with the forced enthusiasm of someone who was not, in fact, great.

"Is Leah there?" he asked. Externally, Leah did not react. Internally, she felt like someone who had downed too many drinks, and was just at the stage where lightheadedness crossed over to vomit inducing illness.

Sue looked at her daughter questioningly. Leah felt the eyes of the pack on her, burning holes through her calm facade. Emily looked hopeful. Sam did not.

Stepping forward, she took the phone from her mother's hand.

"Hey Steve. What's up?" she asked, determinedly ignoring the muscles in Sam's jaw working away.

"A friend gave me tickets to see Into The Woods in Port Angeles. The musical, not the movie," he quickly explained, "and it's not a big budget production or anything, but-I was wondering if you would like to come see it with me. And maybe dinner, before?"

Leah wondered if it was her imagination, or if she could really hear his heart beating through the phone. Maybe it was hers.

Sam was frowning at her, shaking his head from side to side. Emily looked worried, and their combined expressions seemed to say both too dangerous, and don't you dare.

Pressing the button that took it off speaker phone, she held it up to her ear, turning away from her enthralled audience.

"Is this a date?" she asked, the perfect picture of calm.

"... yes?" Steve asked hesitantly.

"Does this date have a date and time, or are we gonna wing it?" Leah asked, ignoring small gasps behind her.

"Tomorrow? I could pick you up at five?" He sounded so nervous, and Leah thought she detected guilt. Because he lied to her last time she saw him? Come to think of it, she had plenty to feel guilty about too. Squashing her guilt at snooping through his private belongings, she nodded.

"Oh, come on!" someone behind her said, worry making their temper flare. Without turning, she tried to walk out the doorway, but the phone cord pulled her back. It showed how scared the pack was that they didn't laugh at her stumble.

She picked up the phone and cradle, and carried it out the door, round the corner.

"I'd love to, Steve," she said. Despite all the lies between them, those three words were genuine.

"Brilliant!" Leah could see his grin through the cord, and out of the view of the others, she allowed herself a smile.

"You know, Seth and Quil told me something really weird," she continued.

"Oh. Really?" Steve sounded strained.

"They said someone was at the gym after hours working at a bag, and punched it so hard it smashed the glass in the window. They were covered in cuts."

"Are they okay?" Steve sounded so worried and ashamed, Leah knew it couldn't have been deliberate. The idea of going to the gym after hours was probably so that no one did get hurt. Which then raised a whole other set of questions.

"They're fine. My mum used to be a nurse, and she's got a cream that fixes cuts. You'd never known they were hurt," Leah lied through her teeth, fingers wrapping tightly around the cord, just like when she was younger, and would stay up half the night talking to her friends. The habit felt odd. She wondered if it was still a habit if you hadn't done it in years.

"Thank God," Steve muttered.

"Do you know who they said it was," Leah prodded, hand pulling the circular cord straight.

His breath stopped.

"Ahhh... Yes," he finished firmly. Leah heard a thump, and Steve gave a surprised squeak.

"Are you okay?" she asked, more worry in her voice then she would have liked.

"Yes," Steve answered, sounding frustrated.

"They said it was you," Leah told him. Steve stopped.

"I'm sorry Leah, I should have stopped and made sure they were okay," Steve sounded so ashamed.

"They ran, not you," Leah said, "But how did that happen? You'd have to be pretty strong to do that much damage."

"The chain was broken," Steve said, so carefully it had to be rehearsed.

"Okay," Leah accepted automatically. It was the same excuse Quil had offered her. It wasn't any more true coming out of Steve's lips.

"Thank you for cleaning the place up," she said.

She could almost hear him shrugging over the phone, "It was the least I could do. Say sorry to the boys for me?"

"Sure. See you tomorrow." She slammed the phone back in the cradle before he could say goodbye.

She was immediately greeted with a wall of worried faces of her pack and family.

"Leah, you can't," Sam ordered. Glaring at him, Leah drew herself up, planting both feet firmly on the floor.

"I don't really give a fuck about what you want, Sam," Leah said, in the forcefully calm voice of someone who was about to boil over.

"He's my imprint, and maybe he lied, but I lied to him too. He didn't mean to hurt the boys, so you know what?" Leah stepped forward, glaring up into Sam's impassive face, "I don't care how fucked up my imprint and I are. He's mine. Get out of my life."

With that, Leah turned tail, slamming the front door behind her. She wondered if she'd ever get tired of the dramatic exit.

* * *

"Steve, is it that hard for you to lie?" Natasha snapped when he hung up the phone. Slowly, Steve began nodding his head.

"What is it about her? You could have any woman you want, Rogers, why her?" Natasha snapped, "Why do we have to get tangled up in this stupid mess?"

Steve scowled at her, "There's something about her, Nat. I just..."

"What? You just saw her, and she was the one?" Natasha snapped, staring him straight in the eyes, "we were taught all about romantic guys like you, Rogers. What buttons to push to get them to play," she took a step closer, and Steve had to fight the urge to step away.

"They are so easy to play, Steve. Like a god damn piano," Natasha said steely. Steve opened his mouth, begging his head to come up with rebuttal, something, anything, when an old car roared into the dusty parking lot. Steve looked up to see a familiar old ute haphazardly trying to squeeze into a too small car park.

Natasha yanked open the front door of their motel room, marching outside to meet Clint.

"Hey, Tashie!" Clint yelled, slamming the creaky car door behind him, arms open. Natasha submitted to a bear hug from their friend, and the side door of the car opened. Steve held Maria's bag as she braced herself.

"Worst three hours of my life," Hill hissed, taking the bag back grumpily. Steve bit back a grin, leading her to the small reception.

"I didn't know you were coming. I thought Nat only asked Clint," Steve asked.

Hill rolled here eyes, "When Clint told me he had to leave the tower for a while, I asked what he was doing. Thought you might be closing in on Barnes, so I took a few days off for support."

Steve was surprised at the kindness in the gesture, "Thank you, Maria, but that's not exactly what's been going on," he said, far too evasively for Hill's liking. She eyed the super soldier, and the super spy meters away, pulling Clint sharply away from his wreck of a car.

"What did you do to piss off Romanoff, Rogers?" Hill snapped.

Steve sighed, "get settled first."

* * *

"Do you think they're werewolves?" Clint offered, breaking the stiff silence. The joke didn't cause the laughter he had hoped.

"To be honest, I don't think that would surprise me anymore," Steve grumbled from where he sat on the floor next to Clint. The four were crammed into Hill's newly booked room, where Natasha and Steve had filled them in on the details. The women had immediately taken control of the bed.

"Think about it. You were chasing a human, then a wolf like creature. The clothes were all ripped and blown apart, but had no blood," Clint said, his serious demeanor uncovered with a snort.

"It fits," Natasha allowed, "but just because something is possible doesn't make it probable. Or even likely."

"Relax, it was a joke," Clint grumbled, "and you seriously think your girlfriend turning into a werewolf wouldn't surprise you?" he directed at Steve.

"I have fought aliens and space whales, met a man who turns into a green giant, and a norse god. Would it surprise you?" Steve asked, taking a sip from his cold beer.

Clint considered this, "I dunno. Guess the question is, which is weirder, aliens or werewolves?"

"Aliens come from another planet," Steve offered, grinning from behind his drink.

"We've always know that was a possibility. But humans morphing into something else?" Hill said doubtfully, "that's impossible."

"You ever met the Hulk?" Natasha smirked at her friend.

"Maybe they're not human. Maybe they're aliens," Clint offered, stretching out on the carpet.

"Space werewolves?" Steve laughed.

"Obviously," Hill rolled her eyes at him, but allowed herself a small smile.

* * *

Someone knocked brusquely on the motel door. Steve could barely hear it over the pounding of blood in his ears as he stared at the jagged paper jutting out from the spine of his sketch book. A drawing had been hurriedly ripped out, one he could have sworn was still there after the break in. It wasn't one he could forget.

"Steve?" Hill asked, and he jumped up, nearly missing the red head behind her slip a metal pick into her pocket. Steve stared between the two, his forehead wrinkling. He reached up a hand to unconsciously scrub the creases away.

"Explain," Hill snapped in a voice that had made every single officer on the Helicarrier deck stand up and wince.

Steve closed the book with a snap, and slid it back into the drawer, standing up.

"One of my sketches is missing. Page was ripped out. Musta been taken during the break in," he explained slowly, trying to edge past the women blocking the doorway. Neither moved, fixing him with the same impenetrable stare.

"Which one?" Natasha asked, allowing a small note of worry to slip into her voice. This time, Steve didn't pause.

"Can't remember," he said. Natasha raised a brow, but didn't question him, holding out the keys to her car on one slender finger. With a nod of thanks he took them, and suddenly he forgot all about the missing page and remembered where he was going. Turning back to his friends he gestured to himself.

"Do I-"

"You look fine," Hill said wryly, crossing her arms. Natasha reached forward to straighten his collar, examining him carefully from head to toe. She pushed his hair back off his forehead, then nodded.

Clint popped his head out from the room next door, "Hey Cap, can I sleep in your room? Mine smells like fish," he whined.

Steve rolled his eyes, "Sleep on the floor," he ordered.

"Thank you for your overwhelming kindness," Clint quipped, "Have fun on your date, gramps. And stop freaking out. When you freak out, you sweat, and then you stink, and no one wants to be near a dude that doesn't know how to apply deodorant."

Steve swallowed, numbly climbing into the car, forgetting to even wave goodbye as he exited.

Natasha slapped Clint on the back of the head.

"What?" Clint jumped, wide eyed, rubbing his head.

"You're an ass, Barton," Hill snapped.

* * *

Leah fought off the urge to pick at non-existent lint on her green dress. It was an old dress she'd bought years ago for herself, before all the wolfy stuff had happened. As a result, it was shorter and tighter on her than before. The neckline plunged, and black heels made her legs look even longer. She looked fabulous.

If only she felt the same.

Distantly, she heard the phone ring. The noise blended with the muttering tv and the wind outside. Taking a deep breath, she stood military straight, and marched out into the family room where her mother was. Immediately, Sue turned off the tv, staring at her oldest child. The silence was almost unbearable for Leah.

"I'm going, so just- don't." she said. Sue stood up, walking until the two women were standing face to face.

"I trust you Leah. You're an adult, and you're capable of making your own choices. I can't make them for you anymore," she smiled sadly, "so I'm with you. If this is what you want, grab it with both hands and don't let anyone take it from you. Whatever happens, I love you."

Leah felt a prickle behind her eye and she smiled.

"Dramatic speech for a first date, mum," she whispered. Sue smiled knowingly.

"We both know it's more than that." Sue stepped forward, and despite her daughter being much taller than her, she did her best to smother her in an all consuming hug, like she had when Leah was a child.

"If he tries anything, kick his ass sweetie," she whispered. Leah smiled into her mother's shoulder.

The front door was yanked open, and a cold blast swept through the room, making Sue shiver.

"Seth! Aren't you going to see your sister off?" Sue called to her son. Seth turned and shrugged his bare shoulders, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans.

"Sam called. There's a dead deer buried in the woods that's been all cut up. He wants me and some of the guys to check out. Think's there's a squatter in the old cabin hunting," he explained duly, staring at a spot on the wall behind Leah. She felt a pang of sadness, then anger at her brothers behavior.

"Seth-" she started.

"Why do you have to do this?" he snapped, "he's dangerous!"

"No he's not," Leah snarled, anger flaring.

"Tell that to the smashed window. To me and Quil's faces," he yelled back, uncharacteristically angry.

"It was an accident. He apologized," Leah said, not used to seeing Seth as the one with a temper.

"People apologise all the time, Leah. It doesn't mean shit!" Seth yelled, and Leah could see tears forming in his eyes. He turned and raced out the door. Leah didn't need to see him to know he'd already shifted. A numbness started in her face, draining down through the rest of her body. She could smell salt water. She didn't know if it was from the nearby ocean, or his tears.

"Give him time, Leah. That's the best thing you can do right now," Sue told her gently.

"I'm sure that's what everyone said about me," Leah replied. She walked away, and waited for Steve on the front steps, cold wind whipping over her bare arms.

* * *

When Steve arrived at Leah's house, she raced to the car before he could get out and open her door for her, sitting in the sanctuary of the car with a thump. She ignored Steve's curious (and more than slightly panicked) glance. Without a word, he backed out of the driveway, the two simply sitting in companionable silence.

They were driving through one of the long unlit roads when Steve slid his hand slowly over to hold Leah's, squeezing it gently. Warmth coursed through her, and slowly Leah let herself relax, the numbness floating away. The corners of her mouth twitched upwards, and she glanced at Steve out of the corner of her eye.

"Have you seen Into The Woods before?" she asked.

"No," Steve admitted, then his forehead scrunched up again, "Is that a bad thing? What if the musical is really bad? The reviews said it was good, but-"

"It is. I saw it before, when I was a kid. It's weird but... kinda perfect," she admitted. She found his bumbling very sweet. It was nice to know he was just as nervous as she was.

"I think you'll get a kick out of the princes' song," Leah said, smirking slightly.

"Yeah?" Steve asked, curious.

"They're a lot like you," Leah said all too innocently, and Steve frowned suspiciously.

"Gotta feeling I'm gonna regret this," he said huskily, grin crooked as he stared out onto the road before them.

Leah didn't think about her reply. It was as natural as if she had know Steve for years.

"Not if I can help it." Her smile unconsciously matched his own.

* * *

Maria and Natasha sat at a cozy cafe in Forks, Maria sipping a caramel late, hands wrapped tightly around the warm mug, listening as her friend told her about the bonfire. Natasha was using a sleek silver laptop - wether her own or 'borrowed' Maria wasn't sure - and the cafe's free WiFi to access the internet.

"I'm guessing you didn't tell Steve about the whole 'jilted lover' affair?" Maria asked dryly, watching as her friend skim read something of interest.

"You knew because he wasn't angry enough," Natasha stated, not looking up.

"Steve's a pretty righteous guy. If he knew, he'd be less nervous and more pissed off. Why didn't you tell him about Sam and Leah's history?"

"Like you said, I didn't need him that angry. I thought she should tell him," Natasha replied. Maria's jaw ticked, and she set her cup down carefully, leaning forward in the saggy leather armchair.

"You didn't tell Steve about Sam and Leah's broken engagement because you wanted to be the one holding all the cards. Just like always." Maria spoke not unsympathetically, but in an undebatable tone. Natasha finally paused in her work and looked up.

"We're your friends, Nat. You don't need to be one step ahead of us. As hypocritical as it sounds from me, you're not a SHIELD agent anymore. You can afford to have friends. Sometimes, you're allowed to just trust us."

Natasha examined Maria, unmoving. Maria nearly held her breath as she waited.

"I'll tell him when he gets back," Natasha finally said. Maria nodded.

Natasha closed the laptop with a snap, frustration evident in her loud sigh.

"I had a look through Stark's database for any large government facilities within a twenty mile radius. Something like a water treatment plant that could be hiding labs," she explained. Maria raised her brow.

"I work at Stark's-"

"You work for Stark," Natasha interrupted slyly.

"and the database on the government is good, but not that good," Maria carried on. Natasha glared.

"Do you really want to know-"

"Nope," Maria grinned, "carry on."

"Nothing big enough or secret enough to be hiding labs. I thought they might be experimenting on the local wolf population. It would explain the size, and why the ones we've seen have not shied away from venturing into populated areas. There could be hidden facilities but my gut says no," Natasha said.

"Since when do you rely on your gut?" Maria scoffed.

"Same time people started saying I needed to trust my friends," Natasha replied dryly.

"Then I searched the internet for anything relating to large unexplained wolves in the area. Even the conspiracy sites draw a blank. Either Steve and I were both mistaken or they're damn well hidden."

"We both know you don't make those kind of mistakes," Maria said, thoughtfully sipping at her mug.

Natasha didn't blink.

"Exactly."

* * *

Jared peered through the bushes, seeing far more than any human could with the moon and stars hiding behind hostile clouds. Darting forward, he used Leah's memories of Steve's room to steer himself toward the window previously used as an escape route. He was a mere five feet away, still camouflaged in the bushes, when doubt struck him. Sam had deliberately chosen him to do this, while Leah was on a date. The rest of the pack was far deeper into the forrest checking out a probably made up homeless man. They were far enough away that Jared only needed to concentrate a little to block them out.

Ever so slowly, he padded towards the window. Underneath the sill, he paused again. An image flashed through his mind. Leah and Steve, standing close together on the beach as the sun set. Leah looked happier then Jared could remember. He wondered what business Sam had, sniffing around Steve.

Then he remembered the blind panic of Seth and Quil. An unbidden growl rose through his throat, though it was so quiet it could barely be heard over the wind.

It would be easy, that much was obvious. Under the bed in a black art folio bursting to the seams. The trick would be making sure Rogers didn't realise what he'd done. Find what was in the case.

* * *

Clint was lying on his back, glaring at the ceiling. There were suspicious looking stains decorating the plaster. He wondered how they got there. It's not like there was an oven to blow up in this tiny room. He wiggled slightly on the thin mattress. He swore he could still smell fish.

Just as he was about to take his hearing aids out for the night, he froze at a soft growl. There was someone, or something, nudging the window open. Silently, Clint rolled off the mattress on the floor, under the wooden bed frame. He pulled the quilt down till there was just a small gap between it and the floor so that he was hidden.

Breathing evenly, but so softly only trained ears could hear it, he zoomed out from the nerves and focused in on what was coming through the glass.

Ever so slowly, a dark shape outside inched the window open. Very carefully, a huge pointed nose entered, followed by a massive head and large eyes. Clint nearly gulped at the huge size of the furry animal. The need to make a Little Red Riding Hood joke lost out to his small amount of common sense.

Immediately, the creature's eyes focused on the floor underneath the window. A black art folio was propped up against the wall.

For a split second, Clint was so mesmerized by the creature's size (it could only fit it's head and neck through the window) that he nearly forgot what was in the folio. Steve's shield.

Clint rolled out from under the bed, diving for the folio. He had the distinct advantage of being more mobile than the large creature and snatched the shield up from under it's toothy head. Then Clint was standing, holding one very badly disguised, very famous shield.

The wolf creature locked eyes with Clint. The intelligence in the animal's eyes would have made a lesser man pee his pants. But Clint was not a lesser man. Much. So he only shook a little.

The wolf turned it's gaze back to the art folio. It was clear what it had come for. Sharp brown eyes met Clint's again, and it snarled. Clint snarled back, grabbed the shield by it's curving edge, and swung.

It crashed into the wolf's nose with a bang, sending the creature flying out the window. He heard a snarl, then paws pounding on frozen ground.

For what felt like a life time, Clint stared at the red rim of the shield poking through the seams of the black fabric. Then he blinked, and he was rushing to the window. He stared outside. All he could make out were trees thrashing in the wind. Closing the window with a thud, he scrambled for the phone on the bedside table, dialing a number he knew by heart. It rang once before he picked it up.

"Nat," Clint said breathlessly, "I think I just became Captain America."


	7. I'm Dying To See How This One Ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT! I went back and introduced Steve and Natasha with fake names to fix some issues.
> 
> As ro781727 pointed out, there are a few continuity issues, as I started this story thinking is should be set before The Winter Solider, then, as I wrote it, realised it would be much better set after, and, therefore, after Natasha has dumped all SHIELD's info on the net. So the 'hacker' mentioned in chapter nine should easily have found out who Nat and Steve were with their names alone.
> 
> To fix this, I introduced them with false IDs, Steve Phillips, and Natalie (no last name), and this fic is set between the battle with HYDRA and Natasha's senate hearing (I don't know how long the gap was, so lets just pretend). It's also my personal head cannon that SHIELD and now Stark Industries do their best to blur the facial features of any Avengers caught in photographs. So that, combined with only old photographs of Steve at the moment, makes identification difficult unless you're looking for it. Ooookay, I think that's it!

"I still can't get over those princes," Steve seemed amusedly stunned as he frowned at his spoonful of ice cream, "Should I be laughing at how idiotic they were, or crying at how brutally honest the satire was?"

Leah snorted into her ice cream. Steve shook his head bewilderingly at her.

"And that song where the two prices ripped off their shirts. What was it called? 'Agony'?" he asked.

"If you want to copy them and rip your shirt off, I'm not gonna complain," Leah grinned through a mouthful of ice cream. They sat in Steve's car, hidden between the trees, just off the road. They could hear the waves crashing, and the wind howling outside, but they were cozy inside Steve's car. She had forgotten all her problems for the night, and she was the happiest she'd been in years.

Steve ducked his head and laughed, Leah watching as his ears turned red. Usually she'd roll her eyes at such a display, but now she found it adorable.

"This reminds me of when I was little. Emily used to come and stay during the holidays. We'd go exploring. Drove our parents nuts," she laughed, and Steve smiled softly.

"This one year, we were up on the cliffs, and found this little cave hidden by this massive rock pile, kind of shaped like a tooth. And when we were in there- we could hear the waves and the wind outside, but we were safe and warm. It was so..." Leah trailed off, searching for the right word.

"Perfect?" Steve offered.

"Yeah," Leah grinned at him. Somehow, this, together, was just as magical.

"We fell asleep there. God, our parents were not happy," Leah laughed to herself.

"Sent Emily home the next day. But we went back, every time she visited," Leah spoke softly. Her smile had turned sad at the thought of Emily, but she shook it off. Sam wasn't here to ruin this.

She took a swipe of Steve's purple and pink swirled ice cream.

"Hey!" Steve exclaimed, grinning.

"I swear, you can not eat that much ice cream by yourself. Consider me a helping hand," Leah laughed, downing the ice cream. Her eyes widened at the taste, and she swallowed uncomfortably.

Steve's smile immediately straightened, "Are you okay?"

"That," Leah said, "is way too much sugar. Did you dump a whole jar in it?" Her mouth was still screwed up like she'd swallowed a lemon. Steve relaxed.

"No. It's the fairy floss ice cream. And it is delicious," he said defensively, shielding his cup from her frown.

"It tastes like a fairy threw up on it," Leah told him flatly.

"That's the idea!" Steve said cheerfully, wiggling his eyebrows.

"How have you not had a heart attack?" Leah asked bewilderingly.

"I've gotta a sweet tooth," he admitted with a shrug.

"I thought I did too till about twenty seconds ago," Leah said deadpan, though her eyes laughed.

Steve smiled back, and for a while the two sat in comfortable silence. Or so Leah thought. Steve must not have agreed, or else his mind had time to stew on his guilt.

"Is Seth and that other kid okay?" he asked eventually. Leah waved her spoon.

"Fine. They're not exactly fond of you, but fine," Leah assured him. The wrinkles in his brow did not go away, and she wanted to reach up to smooth them out, them quickly clamped down hard on the feeling. The lightheartedness of before was gone, and Leah wondered exactly what she had been doing.

"Are you sure? I can pay for their medical fees," Steve said.

"They don't have any," Leah said, "and they're fine."

Steve frowned, "Is there anything I can do to get into their good graces?" Leah's mouth quirked at his phrasing. She shrugged.

"Wish I knew," she admitted, staring at the condensation on the table. Noticing the change in her mood, Steve stood up, offering her his arm like a man out of an old film. Leah stared at it.

"I heard there's a beautiful park in Forks with fairly lights in the trees. Care to join me?" he asked, smiling. Leah continued to stare. She swallowed, forcing herself to answer.

"I'm kind of screwed up," she said, raising her chin to stare into his eyes. Steve's smile grew softer.

"So am I. All the people worth knowing are." He pulled her up by her hand, and she bumped into his chest. Neither moved. Leah watched Steve's Adam's apple bob as he swallowed.

"And you're definitely someone I want to get to know," he said huskily.

* * *

Seth was breathing heavily as he followed his pack mates deep into the forest. The sound was low and deep under the sharp noise of the howling wind.

Shut up Seth, Brady and Embry thought in sync. The three boys were prowling behind Paul and Sam towards the abandoned shack in the middle of the woods. They could smell the dead deer carcass rotting away in the nearby dirt. It only added to the eerie feeling of the dark night.

The shack had always creeped the boys out. It wasn't a picturesque hideaway out of an Enid Blyton. Instead of being set in a small clearing between the trees, the untamed growth grew through it, branches and vines erupting through cracked wooden boards. Seth wasn't sure if the thick trunk of a still living tree had originally been used as a corner post, or if it had simply grown through the wall. The roof had collected dirt over the years, enough that small clusters of weeds grew between the old tiles. It's natural camouflage hid the shack so well, they found it difficult to spot, even with their advanced eyes.

Sam sent a message for the boys to stop just behind a bunch of bushes. They were not particularly thick bushes, and would be no good for concealing. But the wolves dark fur melded in with the plants, disguising them as one large bushy growth.

Quil eyed the little house concealed far in front of them. This place gives me the creeps, he thought.

Join the club, Seth grumbled.

Whoever's using this place at night is one messed up guy, Embry agreed. Even Paul was emanating a queasy feeling.

Trees rustled meters in front of them, and Quil jumped.

It's just the win- Sam froze. The smell reached the rest of the group immediately. A very subtle collection of smells. Leather, metal and plastic. Something sharp, tangy. Metallic. Smells that did not belong. The tense group spotted the black pipe sliding out of a rocky outcrop at the same time.

Even Paul had the common sense to duck.

Bangs ricochet through the trees like a deadly hail storm. Hidden shooters had surrounded the shack, and seemed intent on ripping it to the ground with their bullets.

A squawk, and a gun fell out of the rocks. A hand rolled out from behind. Though their canine eyes could not make out the colour, a dark liquid quickly pooled on the dirt next to the twitching fingers. Nine more thuds, and the shooting stopped.

A hooded figure climbed down from the upper leafy branches of the tree supporting the shack. He had something long slung over his shoulder, and his feet did not make a sound as he walked over to the first shooter. After a cursory glance at the body, the man hauled the fresh corpse up, giving the frozen wolves their first look.

The dead shooter's face was covered with some kind of helmet, but there was no mistaking how her body hung limply from the arms of the man in the hooded jacket. The man carried the limpbody into the house. The wolves watched as he dragged the rest inside, one by one.

Except for the last two. Those, the man picked up by the collars, hauling the limp bodies into the air, like they were small children. Soon after the hooded man entered the house, the wolves heard the sound of damp earth being dug into. And again. And again. Again.

Seth was the first one to form a comprehensive thought. I think I'm gonna throw up.

* * *

Leah had her hand resting close enough to Steve's during the drive back home that they would brush against each other when Steve adjusted the radio. Given that Steve apparently really hated country, heated skin touched warm fingers every few minutes.

Leah rested her head against the window, watching the street lights flash by. She felt peaceful, like when you eat your favourite food, or curl up in your bed just after you took your sheets out of the drier. Both she and Steve were so relaxed in the comforting atmosphere each provided the other.

"What made you want to come to Forks in the first place?" she asked quietly.

"I lost a friend. Nat was helping me track him down. We thought he might be in Forks, but when we got here," he shrugged.

"Though he definitely wasn't the reason I stayed," Steve admitted, so quiet even he wondered if he meant to say the words aloud. He wanted to squeeze his eyes shut tight, but settled for letting out a long breath.

"Leah, I... I have something I'm not telling you. It's kind of a big thing, and it means that if this," he gestured awkwardly between them, "were to continue, I'd be hiding something from you. It's about my job. Sometimes I get called away in the middle of the night, and I wouldn't be able to tell you were I was going."

Leah stared at him. Steve refused to meet her eye, staring out onto the road. This was it. He admitted he hadn't been truthful. And that he couldn't tell her why. For the first time since Sam, Leah let go of her inhibitions, and simply trusted.

"Okay," she said. She smiled, watching Steve grin to himself.

"I have things that I can't tell you either just yet. Doesn't mean I don't want to."

Steve looked at her with warm eyes, "Then I guess we'll just have to trust each other," he said softly.

"A new experience for us both," Leah said dryly, though not without humour.

"But this leaving in the middle of the night business. Does that mean you plan to stay the night?" she asked teasingly. Steve blushed bright red, but did not stumble on his words.

"Darlin', if you let me, I'd hold you all night long."

* * *

Steve parker in the driveway of Leah's house, and they sat there talking till Leah's mother called her in. Steve had hesitated as he walked up the path with her. She examined him with a playfully critical eye.

"You want a kiss?" she asked sharply. Steve's mouth opened, then he shut it, nodding furiously.

"So do I," Leah whispered, and she pulled him in.

Kissing Steve was like biting into a chocolate covered cherry. The outside was covered in comforting warmth, till you reached the inside, and the tart taste of the fruit exploded. The combination was intoxicating.

Then their teeth clinked, and both winced, pulling back. Steve smiled lopsidedly at Leah's breathless gasps, his lips raw after their first kiss.

"Guess a perfect first kiss after a perfect first date would be too much to ask," Leah said, smiling.

"You mean it wasn't perfect?" Steve mocked, wide eyed.

Leah grinned, leant forward, and quickly kissed him on the tip of his nose. Then she turned and walked back into the house. She could feel Steve watching her the whole way.

Leah couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she brushed her teeth. She wasn't sure she wanted to.

* * *

The scent of blood was so strong inside the shack, Embry threw up, and Sam sent the younger men outside. Paul shivered at the smell of death seeping up from the dirt floor.

The man with the gun and the shovel was long gone. The bodies he left buried in the ground were not.

Bullets had created holes in the wooden walls, and moonlight dimly highlighted the freshly shoveled dirt. None of the wolves were sure who the victims had been in this brutal attack.

Sam, ever the strong leader, remained stone faced as he surveyed what was left of the scene. He frowned, spotting something out of the corner of his eye. There was something in the shadows of the corner, hidden between the roots of the old tree, almost like it had been discarded. A ripped piece of paper.

Picking it up, Sam realised it was a drawing, and by the look of it, ripped right down the middle. A young man with brown hair, sprawling on a large log. He had a split lip and a ripped old shirt to match. Dog tags on a chain round his neck identified him as a soldier.

The man was grinning directly at where the drawing had been ripped, as if smiling at a friend that had been ripped away.

"Does this drawing look familiar to you?" Sam asked Paul quietly. Paul frowned, and slowly nodded.

* * *

"A mammoth-sized, intelligent wolf tried to steal my shield?" Steve asked, bewildered. Hill nodded tightly. Clint bobbed his head furiously.

"Are we thinking government experiments, or... ?" Natasha let her question trail off.

"Hate to be the one to say it, but alien werewolves just moved to the top of my list," Hill admitted. The group stared at the now tightly closed window.

"Can I talk to Steve please?" Natasha interrupted, leaving little room to argue. Maria nodded, leaving the tiny motel room, dragging an annoyed Clint after her. Curiously, Steve turned to face her.

"I learnt something at the bonfire that I should have told you," Natasha said, and though her posture was still, Steve could swear he saw guilt in her eyes. And Natasha told Steve about Sam and Leah and Emily.

"You okay?" Natasha asked quietly. Steve ground his teeth, and she almost warned him that she was pretty sure that was the one part of his body that would not grow back.

"Why does she still live here?" Steve asked, "why doesn't she just leave these awful people?"

"Families can be poisonous," Natasha said softly.

"They don't deserve her," he hissed.

* * *

The knock of the door woke Leah up. It was still dark, but her mother was at the door, whispering for her to come out. She heard voices in the kitchen.

"Why's Sam here?" Leah asked her mother hoarsely. Sue shrugged one shoulder, though the worry in the lines of her face spoke for her. Leah jumped out of bed, racing to the kitchen in her pajamas, her mother following close behind.

The pack was gathered around the kitchen table, like they did at Emily's nearly ever day, the boys moving to make space when they spotted her. Leah slowed down, taking in the scene curiously. Holding her breath, she moved to the open space at the table.

The pack avoided eye contact, but she didn't miss the fading bruise on Jared's face, and the small amount of blood dripping out his nose.

Sam looked at her, straight in the eye. He slid a piece of paper across the table. It sat there, a sense of foreboding surrounding the scrap.

Slowly, grudgingly, Leah picked it up. A flash of recognition on her face informed the men that she knew.

"Where's it from?" Sam asked gruffly.

"Where'd you get this?" Leah snapped back, refusing to answer.

"Answer the question, Leah," he snarled, Alpha tone edging into his voice, compelling her to speak.

"Steve's sketch pad," she said grudgingly, "It's of a guy and Steve hanging out together. I think they're friends. Where did you get this?" she demanded.

Sam told her about the bloodbath she had missed out on tonight, every other person in the kitchen silent.

"But, what was Steve's drawi..." Leah whispered breathlessly, searching every corner of her brain for something that would make sense.

"I told you he was bad!" Seth yelled at Leah, shocking her. He was usually so sweet. Surprise quickly turned to anger.

"He's not!" she yelled, "I don't know what's going on, but I know Steve is innocent in this," she said, surprising herself with how firm she sounded.

"You still trust him?" Sam asked disbelievingly. Leah glared at him, wishing that he would just leave her alone.

"He's brought in reinforcements while you were on your date, Leah. Jared was patrolling and Rogers' friend hammered his face in," Sam's voice rose steadily as he talked.

"How'd you know he's Steve's friend? Screaming out baseless accusations was never your style, Sam," Leah snarled.

"Because he was in Rogers' room!" Sam roared back at her. The room went quiet as Leah paused.

"You ordered Jared to check out Steve's motel room while we were on a date?" Leah said, her voice low, but no less angry.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she demanded.

"I'm trying to protect you!" Sam bellowed, "one of his friends killed ten people tonight, while we watched. Another beat up my beta. He's a threat to the pack," he said. He snarled when Leah rolled her eyes angrily.

"You are not to see Steve again," he order in his Alpha voice.

"You will not tell him anything about this, or us. Do you understand?"

Leah snarled. The order closed in on her head like an ice cold cage.

"Do you understand?" roared Sam, anger turning his face to cold stone.

Mutely, she nodded. Her head shook as she did, like a puppet who could not escape her strings.

Sam surveyed her, then gave a sharp nod, exiting the house. Slowly, meekly, without a word of dispute, the pack followed suit. Seth stared at his sister, mouth opening slightly. Then he turned and followed his family out the door.

Leah felt numb. The usual anger of a werewolf was no were to be seen. She was empty. Like something had been ripped from her. But it didn't hurt. There's no room for pain when you're dead inside.

"Leah..." Sue whispered softly. Leah winced when her mother gently stroked her shoulder. Like she was on autopilot, Leah pulled herself to her full height.

"Excuse me," she politely told Sue. In a dream state, she walked out of the house, arms stiff. She made sure to close the front behind her, walking carefully down the steps so they wouldn't creak. Steadily, in only her pajama pants and singlet, she walked into the woods.

* * *

The pack was once again gathered in Emily's family room, endeavoring to ignore the violet verbal fight ripping through the kitchen like wildfire.

"It was the right choice-"

"I don't give a damn if it was the right choice, Sam. It was not yours to make!" Emily snarled.

"Leah couldn't choose. The imprint is warping her mind," Sam tried to explain. The pack could hear the determined patience in his voice. It only seemed to incite Emily further.

"So? Can't you see you've taken so much from her already? It took her years to get better, with no help from you or the boys. She did that all by herself. You have no right to take Steve away from her," Emily had first sounded hot, angry when she spoke. Now her voice was cold, burning duly like ice.

"This isn't about taking away her imprint," Sam sounded perilously close to losing his temper, and the pack tensed.

"Like hell!" Emily yelled.

"When you nearly shifted in front of Steve, I wondered. But then, I thought no. You love me. Guess what I've realised now Sam?" Emily whispered. She sounded like she was about to sob. Sam didn't answer.

"You still love Leah. Not as a friend, or a sister, or packmate. But as your fiancé. You can't let her go," Emily cried, "you can't let anyone else in her life while you love her. What's that," she hiccuped, "that stupid line? 'If I can't have her, no one can?'" Emily burst into quiet giggles that shook every listening person to the bone.

"Em-" she held up a hand to stop him.

"I have tried so hard not to pick a side in this. But I'm putting my foot down," the last word was a snarl.

"Get out of my kitchen. Get out of my house. And you know what? Get out of Leah's life." There was a pause in the kitchen. The pack held their breath. Footsteps on wooden floors.

Sam walked out of the kitchen, face blank, and sharply gestured for the pack to follow him. Paul did. Slowly, Jared stood up to follow, discomfort obvious on his face. Emily appeared in the doorway, and glared at them with glassy eyes.

"Out," she whispered. And with heavy footsteps, the pack followed their alpha out the door.

* * *

When his friends had explained the happenings of last night- how his shield was almost stolen by a ginormous wolf- Steve had blinked. Clint was asking if using the shield meant he was entitled to the title that went with it, but Steve wasn't listening.

After the four friends talked well into the night, Steve found himself in his bed, Clint still sleeping on the floor. He wasn't sure if his inability to sleep was to do with Clint's elephantine snoring, or his worry.

When the clock clicked over to five, Steve quietly dressed himself and went for an hour long jog. A cold mist from overnight still lay heavy over the car park and surrounding landscape.

Steve's phone rang as he arrived back in his room, a number he didn't recognise. Steve cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear as he drank his orange juice from the carton, taking it with him outside so he wouldn't wake the still snoring Clint.

"Good morning Steve," Seth sounded overly polite.

"Morning Seth. How are you going?" Steve answered, frowning. Hadn't Leah mentioned her brother hadn't forgiven him for the accident? So why was Seth calling him?

"Good," Seth said, "you?" Steve had yet to encounter a teenager this polite in the twenty first century. He set the carton down on the outside table.

"Fine," Steve said, "How's your face going?" There was a pause before Seth answered. Steve winced.

"Fine," he said stiffly, "Leah asked me if you could meet her by the cabin in the forrest soon. The one by the rocks?"

"Not to be rude, but why isn't Leah the one talking to me?" Steve asked, deep frown becoming more and more evident on his face.

Seth paused before he answered, and Steve swore he heard someone muttering to him in the background.

"Went for a run," Seth eventually answered.

"I thought you hadn't forgiv- never mind," Steve interrupted himself, "How soon?" he asked.

"Twenty minutes?" Seth said.

"Sure. Tell her I'll see her there," Steve answered, automatically hanging up. He reached inside his room to grab his jacket from the hanger by the door, slipping it on as he left. For a second, he eyed Nat's door, wondering if he should tell her. Shrugging to himself, he set out to the forest at a jog.

* * *

When Steve arrived at the nearly invisible shack, he was on high alert, slowing down to a walk. Every fibre in him screamed that something was very very wrong. Steve wanted to find out what.

A figure strolled out of the cabin, fists deep in his pockets. At the sight of him, all of Steve's rage from last night built up again. Steve was dangerously close to bubbling over as he smiled brittlely.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Sam coldly. Sam eyed Steve up and down.

"Leah couldn't make it," he said, voice as blank as his face. Steve raised his brows, and let out a huff of unamused laughter.

"Don't kid me. Leah was never coming," Steve said. His hands bundled into fists at the other man's icy smile.

"Follow me," Sam ordered, turning to stroll back in to the broken little shack. Steve bristled at Sam's words, said in a tone that left no room for non-compliance. But Steve wanted answers. Gritting his teeth, he followed Sam inside.

"What is going on?" Steve grunted from taunt lips. He refused to let the ghostly appearance of the shack, and the odd smell reminiscent of decay, scare him. He watched, eyes not missing a single movement, as Sam leant against a huge tree that supported one side of the shack.

"Tell me. What do you want from Leah?" Sam asked. Steve crossed his arms, shifting his wait to one foot.

"Why do you care?" Steve asked sharply.

"She's my friend," Sam said, standing straight to mirror Steve's position.

"Sure you're not still in love with her?" Steve threw out casually, "I heard your first fiancé is hard to forget." Sam's control slipped for the first time.

"That's none of your business," he snarled.

"Guess not," Steve allowed, "but it's no longer any of yours. What Leah and I are to each other only matters to her and me. Stop trying to control her."

As the two men glared at each other, Steve began picking up on a very faint smell. It was sharp, but muted by the cold dirt. Metallic. A smell Steve was very familiar with.

He broke eye contact with Sam and slowly walked across the room, attempting to subtly sniff for the source of the smell. A window, the glass long gone, was still standing in the only remotely firm wall of the square shack.

Steve spotted the groove in the window sill at the same time he discerned the source of the blood.

A small, curved furrow had been blasted through the top of the wooden sill. The cut looked new. Carefully, Steve turned, following the line of trajectory with his eyes. In the dull morning light, Steve could just make out the glint of a bullet deep in the trunk of the old tree. His stomach dropped.

Steve marched past Sam, the smell of blood now seeping through every pore in his body. He felt the hole the bullet had dug through the wood, forcing it deep into the tree. Slowly, he stepped back, and something rustled. Looking down, he spotted a piece of paper wedged firmly between two roots. As if on autopilot, Steve reached down. He saw his fingers tighten around the paper as he grabbed it and pulled. It nearly ripped.

There was Bucky, smiling at the ripped paper were Steve had drawn himself. The two of them, laughing. Just happy to be alive. To be in each other's company.

The paper was as torn as their friendship.

But, Steve thought, Bucky had remembered enough to take Steve's picture. He was remembering. He had followed Bucky here, where they had both stopped running. And judging by the decaying smell in Bucky's hideout, HYDRA had caught up while they rested.

Immediately, Steve ran to the doorway, ready to brake into an all out sprint.

"Where are you going?" Sam snarled behind him, but Steve had bigger problems.

* * *

Steve found Maria and Nat in his room, sitting on his bed as Clint huddled on the floor.

"Bucky is here and so is HYRDA," he blurted out.

"Explain," Maria barked, snapping to attention. Steve opened his mouth. But no sound left. He had so much to say, yet he didn't know where to begin.

Hill had never had patience for rookies who got tongue tied, and she glared at Rogers till he spat it out.

"He took the sketch of him, of us, out of my book," he eventually began, "and I found it in this shack in the forest. It smelled metallic like... blood, and there were bullet holes everywhere."

Clint grimaced when neither woman broke their poker face, putting enough emotion into the odd expression for three people.

"And somethings up with Leah. Sam made me meet him there, told me Leah would be there," Steve finished confusedly, the world tumbling over each other as he rushed to explain everything.

"Leah has to wait, Steve," Natasha said, somewhat more gently than usual.

"I know," he snapped. He paused, then took a deep breath, "I know," he repeated quietly, closing his eyes.

"Ok. Maria, can you call Stark? And is Thor-" Natasha was interrupted.

"Currently shacking up with Doc Foster at the tower," Clint answered helpfully.

Steve spun around to Natasha, "We handled HYDRA before without them. If HYDRA sends in reinforcements, then a fight between them and the Avengers could rip this town to shreds," he said.

"Or, more people could get out alive, if it comes to that," Natasha said evenly.

Steve felt a hand on his shoulder, "Steve, just cause you can do something alone, doesn't mean you should," Clint told him, "Besides, if we need air support, we're screwed without them. Tallest building around here is three stories," he said gloomily.

Steve sighed, "I know, Clint. Maria, make the calls, but ask only Tony and Thor to be on standby."

"I don't think Stark does 'standby'," Natasha muttered dryly, crossing her arms.

"Tell him more people could just get hurt if we make it a big fight," Steve sighed, rubbing his head, "Is there an alarm we can issue to get everyone out of town?" Steve asked, "Flood, earthquake?"

Maria was already shaking her head, "We do that, and HYDRA will know we're on to them. And it might scare Barnes off."

"We've got no idea where the guy is anyway. He could have skipped town hours ago," Clint said, hefting his quiver over his shoulder, and picking up the case that held his compound bow.

"And what if he and HYDRA are still here?" Steve asked desperately.

Clint didn't answer, just met his glare calmly.

"Clint, Maria, have a look around the cabin. Maybe Steve missed something," Natasha ordered, "I'll go with him."

"Yes ma'am," Maria muttered to herself. The comment was said more as a light joke than actual snark, but it fell short of actual amusement. Maria sighed at Steve's crinkled forehead as she left, checking for her mobile and weapons as she marched towards the car.

"Everyone sticks together, no one goes anywhere alone!" Steve called after her.

Clint, following Maria to the car, waved haphazardly behind him, sliding into the driver's seat. Maria didn't even wince as she slid into his decaying lump of a car, already on the phone.

"That means you, Barton!" Steve yelled, Hawkeye giving him a cheerful thumbs up as he drove away.

"Steve, what's your plan? You know somewhere Barnes might go?" Natasha asked, sliding a knife into her boot.

"Maybe," Steve said, worrying at his lips with his teeth. He knew so little about this place, only what Leah had told him.

"Are you telling me, or asking?" Natasha asked sternly.

"Telling. I think," Steve muttered, thinking back to the spot Leah had told him about last night, the one that had caused her soft melancholy smile.

"Can you get the car started, I need to make a phone call," Steve instructed. Natasha raised her brow, but didn't question him, leaving him alone in the suddenly too big motel room.

The phone rang five times before it was picked up.

"Hello?" a voice said duly.

"Seth? Is Leah there?" Steve asked worriedly.

"No, I don't know where-"

"Just, stay in the house today," Steve instructed. His worry was mounting, and he felt like the world was spinning too fast to comprehend. For the moment, he'd forgotten all about Seth and Sam luring him out to the woods. He knew how much the kid meant to Leah. And Steve wasn't about to let anything happen to wither of them.

"There is someone very dangerous in the area, so stay hidden. And if Leah calls, tell her to do the same," he said.

"Steve, what's going on-" Seth sounded so uncertain and scared, and Steve was furious at himself for frightening the kid.

"I'm going to take care of everything. Just promise me you'll stay safe kid," Steve begged. Natasha honked the horn, and he found himself scrambling for his keys to lock the door.

"Promise?" he begged, jogging towards the car.

"... By, Steve," Seth said quietly, hanging up.

Steve swore, and the car door handle crunched under his hand. He was breathing fast when he finally sat next to Natasha.

"Sorry," he muttered, rubbing his forehead.

"Keep it together, Rogers. You can have a break down when everyone is safe," Natasha snapped, putting her foot down on the accelerator.

* * *

Leah eventually found herself in Port Angeles city library. She'd slipped back home, after hours of sitting by the beach in the cold air, snuck the car keys off the hook and driven to the cold city, hoping the long drive would clear her mind.

As she still hadn't changed out of her pajamas, she got a few odd looks from the elderly librarian, which she warded off with a scowl. The few other people in the library just after opening, dismissed her as just another sleep deprived college student.

She sat down at a clunky old computer, tapping impatiently on the desk as she waited for it to turn on. Immediately, she googled 'Steve Philips'. Just as Seth said, the name failed to yield any relevant results. Unless her Steve was somehow related to a singing goat in Florida.

She dug her nails into the wood of the desk, leaving half moon shapes on either side of the keyboard, and wondered when he had become 'her Steve'. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, and tried not to think of Steve, or Sam, or anything that would cause her to loose her temper. When that didn't work, she tried not to think of anything at all.

The librarian sent her another strange look.

Remembering the packs' horror story of the man with the metal arm, Leah started typing away. It took her several minutes to find the right combination of words (metal arm assassin) to remove the ads for robotic arm testing, and find something actually relevant.

Which was, of course, on the second page of results, on a site that collected all manner of conspiracy theories.

"An assassin with a robotic metal arm, believed to have been a HYDRA operative, is said to have been behind many major assassinations of the latter twentieth century. While little is know of the deadly agent, several pictures of him surfaced after the events in Washington. Some believe he was sent to 'take out' Captain America."

Below the small article was one blurry picture of a man dressed all in black, except for his dully shining metal arm. He was facing off against a familiar looking (albeit blurry) man carrying a colourful round shield.

Frowning, Leah tried to scroll down, but found the page frozen. With an annoyed scowl, she tried refreshing it, only for the screen to flash up an 'error' page. She tried going back and forth, but the page was gone, like it had never existed. She swallowed, a sick feeling starting to grow in her stomach.

Instead, she searched Captain America, quickly clicking onto images. There were hundreds of blurry shots taken from phones, of him fighting aliens in New York, and a couple of him dashing about Washington as explosions illuminated the background.

But all the pictures had one thing in common. Each shot was blurred, and the helmet never removed.

Again, Leah had the queasy feeling of familiarity. She zoomed in on his face with a click of her mouse. While most of his features remained blurred (she was starting to think it was deliberate) the profile of his features remained relatively clean.

The sinking feeling shot through Leah's mouth, and she felt like she was about to throw up. She knew that profile anywhere. It was etched into her brain, along with Steve's blue eyes and his cheeky smirk. Her mouth felt dry.

For another hour, she scrolled through every article she could find on Captain America, his friends, theories on how he was still alive after crashing in WWII. Which was how she saw her first picture of James Buchanan Barnes.

And her heart stopped.

"Fuck," she hissed quietly. But in the silence of the early morning library, the librarians' head shot up. The skinny elderly woman rose from her seat and glided over to Leah.

"Sorry," Leah said automatically, wishing the woman would go away.

But the old lady only sniffed.

"Are you related to that Seth boy who sits here every Friday afternoon? You look similar, though I must say his manners are far better than yours," she croaked.

"What?" Leah's head shot around to look at her.

"I thought he was just searching porn, the way he looks at the screen, but he's checked out a tone of how to white hat hacker books," the lady continued, pursing her thin lips together at Leah's unladylike exclamation.

"Can I use your phone?" Leah asked. At the woman's raised brow, she paused.

"Please?" she asked politely. The woman sniffed, and Leah rolled her eyes, stood up abruptly and marched over to the desk, pulling the phone towards her and dialing a number.

"Yo," Seth picked up the home phone, and Leah could hear the forced cheer in his voice.

"Seth, it's me. Listen, you cannot go after the metal arm guy, okay?" she ordered, ignoring as the librarian squawked in her other ear.

"Steve is," he said in a distant voice.

"What?" Leah practically yelled.

"He called a minute ago, told me to stay in the house, because there was someone dangerous around. Told me he'd fix everything," Seth explained.

"Shit!" Leah snarled, breath hissing out between clenched teeth, "Do not tell Sam, okay? It's important he does not interrupt. I found something huge, Seth, and if anyone goes up there they could get really hurt."

There was a pause on the other end, "I already called Sam," he admitted, "I was on my way to meet the pack at the motel to follow Steve's scent."

"Seth, do not go. At least stay near Jared. Try to stall, I'll get there as soon as I can. Stay safe," she ordered, not bothering to hang up as she raced past the apoplectic librarian to the car.


	8. You Made A Really Deep Cut

It took Steve and Natasha twenty minutes to drive halfway up the cliff. They had to hike the rest of the way, and even with Steve brushing through the tough shrubbery like they were gnats, it took them ten minutes to reach the set of rocks that jutted out from the ground like a canine tooth.

Guilt and nerves wracked Steve's mind. Had he spent thirty minutes chasing an impossible hope? Or had he spent thirty minutes searching for a HYDRA asset that was already back in the arms of his programers?

The boulders were taller that Steve, and they had to circle several times around the conical structure before finding out how to slip between them.

"I..." Steve started looking at Natasha. She nodded.

"Call if you need backup," she said sternly. He nodded back, turning to peer into the dark hole in the ground. Then he stopped, and looked back up at her.

"This is a wild guess, he's probably already gone-"

"I will kick your ass, Rogers," Natasha snapped. He turned back down to the cave.

Taking a deep breath, "Bucky?" he called softly, "It's Steve."

Getting no answer, he heaved himself down into the hole, eyes quickly adjusting to the dim light.

Curled up in the far corner, eyeing him sharply from under greasy long hair, sat Bucky. Steve found himself speechless.

"You okay?" he asked softly, crouching down to Bucky's height, but making no move to get any closer. When Bucky didn't answer, he tried another question.

"Do you remember me?" he asked. Quietly, telegraphing his movements, he slid the shield off his back and onto the dirt between them.

Slowly, Bucky moved his gaze from Steve to the shield. After a minute, he reached forward, scooting through the dirt. He slowly ran one finger around the blue circle.

"Layin' your weapon down to a dangerous man," he murmured.

"I'm not worried," Steve smile was watery. Wether it was from sadness or joy, he didn't know. Maybe both.

"You are an idiot," Bucky retorted. No, that wasn't quite right. Not Bucky. But not entirely the Winter Soldier either.

"Jerk," Steve said, "Stop sassing me."

James rolled his eyes. There was something very Bucky in the action- but at the same time, there was a dullness in his usually lively eyes.

Steve shifted into a sitting position, crossing his legs beneath him. The two old friends sat together silently for minutes, simply looking at each other.

"Are you ready to come back?" Steve asked eventually, dreading the answer. But he hoped deep in his heart that stealing the sketch, staying in the same town, were signs that James was ready.

Slowly, James took something carefully out of his pack, delicately unfolding the creased paper. He held it out to Steve, who took it curiously.

It was the sketch James' had stolen from his room. Or half of it, at any rate, ripped precisely down the middle, just like the one in the shack. Steve's face on the paper was smiling at a Bucky who wasn't there. Steve looked up.

"I- it was difficult. To look at who I was. But, I knew you," James blinked, then looked back at the dirt.

"I don't remember everything," James admitted quietly, "and I have shitty dreams."

Steve swallowed, "It's a beginning. And I have pretty awful dreams too. Till the last couple o' days," he admitted.

"Did an angel wash all your fears away?" James asked, "Sometimes I dream one comes down and tells me I'm forgiven," he whispered gruffly, eyes turning away from Steve's.

"Those are always the worst," he admitted.

Tears prickling in his eyes, Steve found himself gaping at Bucky. When he finally closed his mouth, Steve knew what he was waiting for. Bucky to tell him that if he swallowed too many flies, the insects would start colonizing in his stomach.

Unsure what to say, Steve turned to the one topic that always brought a smirk to his best friends face.

"I met a dame. And without you holding my hand the whole way through, I think I've screwed up a million times over," he said, surprised at how honest he was being with himself.

"You want me to teach you how to court a doll when I'm like this?" James raised his brow, and Steve smiled at the familiar expression.

"Who else is gonna convince her to put up with me?" Steve joked. James snorted. Then his smile dropped.

"Steve, I'm still not Bucky Barnes," he whispered.

"Yeah, you are. That person's just changed a bit. We all do," Steve promised, "Come back, Buck. I can help you. You don't need to be alone anymore. You've got friends," Steve begged gently, trying not to let the prickling in his eyes overwhelm him.

"Monsters don't have friends," James shook his head, "they are alone." His voice sounded odd, like he was repeating something that had been hardwired into his brain. Steve's heart dropped.

"Well, when you start growing horns, you can live under a bridge," Steve told him sternly, trying to blink the tears away.

James glared at him, "If this is how you convince me to come with you, I hate to see how you woo a dame," he said, moving to his feet.

"You really would," Steve agreed, holding out a hand. James eyed it carefully, and Steve held his breath. James swooped down to pick up the shield, slipping his pack over one shoulder.

Then he grasped Steve's hand, pulling him closer till they were hugging awkwardly, James' nose tucked firmly into Steve's neck.

"Shrink," James murmured irritatedly, not moving from his position. Steve grinned. Once again, he tried not to cry for a completely different reason as he held his friend tight.

Nat's voice echoed down into the cave.

"We've got company!" she yelled, and both men heard the distinctive noise of a gun being cocked.

Bucky lunged for his guns, and Steve for his shield, hauling themselves out of what was little more than a hole in the ground.

They found themselves topside just as the gunfire began. Nat had wedged herself between two boulders, taking the occasional carefully aimed shot at the HYDRA snipers hidden in the scrub, while she fumbled with Steve's mobile, trying to call Maria.

Steve jumped out of shelter and sent his shield slamming into a sniper hidden in a tree. The shooter fell down with a lifeless thump, then Steve was aiming his shield again.

Just as he was about to let go, machine fire erupted from behind him, and he ducked.

Within seconds, every hidden HYRDA agent was dead on the ground.

The silence was so loud it hurt.

Slowly, Steve turned around. James was standing, gun still cocked, eyes as blank as they had been on the bridge.

"Buck, it's me," Steve said, slowly sliding the shield onto his back so he could hold his hands up. The Winter Soldier's eyes met his, and slowly began to blink. Just as Steve's hopes were raising again, a growl grumbled lowly.

Steve turned to see a wolf- no, wolf pack. At least ten impossibly large wolves were stalking towards them, hair on end, making them even larger. They gave large berth to the dead bodies as their paws padded closer.

And the Winter Soldier took aim again.

The wolves ducked and weaved through the bullets supernaturally fast. As Steve checked his gun, he wondered what the hell they were again. They had avoided confrontation till now, preferring to slink through the shadows. He wondered what had changed.

A small grey wolf left out a squeal, bullets shooting through it's leg.

This only appeared to spur on the rest of the pack. Natasha took aim, this time with a hidden knife, sending it flying into the closest creatures' paw. It howled.

Steve took out his gun, backing up to stand next to Natasha.

"Lions and tigers and wolves, oh my," she murmured huskily under the howls and gunfire.

"Being in Oz might explain what the hell is going on," Steve agreed, aiming for a large grey wolf.

Steve heard the slightest of movements behind him and turned. The largest of the wolves, a huge black monster, had circled around behind them, and was creeping up on Bucky.

Steve launched himself at the wolf the same time it leapt. They crashed into the hard ground, squirming and snarling at each other. It's hind claws dug into Steve's legs, ripping his jeans and scratching down to bone. Steve hissed in a breath, but found his nose and mouth blocked by thick fur.

Shoving the snarling head away, he rolled over, on top of the thrashing mass. Finding himself staring down at the dark wolf, still fighting, Steve set to work landing punch after punch into it's nose and head. The wolf glared up at him furiously, and something in it's eyes made Steve punch even harder, angrier, till blood was dripping out cuts in the creatures' skin. But still it wrestled with him, as angry as he was.

"Rogers," Natasha roared, and he glanced back to see that Bucky was out of bullets and surrounded. He wielded only a deadly looking knife, and while Steve had first hand knowledge of Bucky's newly acquired skills, he doubted even the Winter Soldier could easily defeat nine pissed off, gigantic wolf monsters.

Just as Steve was about to yell, another wolf, this one brown, jumped in front of Bucky, snarling at the group. It had come running out of the trees, leaping to Bucky-or perhaps the Winter Solider's-aid. Steve spared a quick glance at the other man, only to find him as confused as Steve himself.

At first, the other wolves seemed too stunned to growl back, but one by one their confidence returned, and they snarled at the brown wolf. Their growls were loud, reverberating across the landscape, but the small wolf didn't wince. Steve wondered if this happened to it often.

Instead, the significantly smaller wolf growled back, determined, setting off another round of grunts and snarls, almost as though they were having a discussion. Or maybe an argument.

Eventually, the other wolves began slowly backing away, and Steve stood up from where he still lay on the panting wolf, walking forward slowly, though he did take the time to carefully draw his shield.

Bucky was standing stock still, knife clenched in his fist. He was eyeing the wolves suspiciously, like he didn't believe for one second they'd stopped their attack. Steve was inclined to agree with him, especially when one of the injured wolves, dragging itself to cover behind rocks, whimpered, sending the pack's hackles raising again.

He tightened his grasp on the shield, moving it in front of him to screen from any attacks. Just as he did so, the small brown wolf that had leapt to Bucky's defence turned. It's eyes caught on the glint of sunlight coming off the metal, and tracked the movement of the shield. As Steve held it in front of him, the wolf blinked, then slowly found his face, staring at him fiercely.

As their eyes met, the air rushed out of Steve's lungs.

Those warm, intelligent brown eyes were unforgettable, shining like uncut smoky quartz.

Though they were usually set into a more human face.

"Leah-?" Steve began curiously, only to hear a soft growl behind him as he said her name. Without looking, he whacked the already bloodied wolf with his shield, sending it flying off into the trees.

"Steve," Natasha said, sounding far less stunned then she had a right to be, as Steve stared into the warm brown eyes he knew so well, flecked with gold and green.

"So, whose gonna tell Clint he was right about the werewolves?" Nat asked breathlessly.

"Bags not," Steve mumbled clumsily.

* * *

Natasha stared over the now frozen wolves, while Steve stared stupidly at Leah.

All the wolves had stopped. None were making a sound. It was eerie, the previously furious animals staring at them- almost like they had recognised who they were.

But they're not animals, Steve realised when he eventually looked up from Leah's eyes. They're human.

"So are we just gonna stand here, or do you have a plan?" Natasha asked sharply under her breath.

Steve took a step forward, straightening his back.

"Wait," Natasha grabbed his arm, "Do you have a plan?"

"It's called wingin' it," Steve muttered back, throwing a nervous grin over his shoulder.

"We don't want to fight you. This has been a big misunderstanding- those agents were HYDRA," Steve tried to explain, his tongue feeling numb as intelligent eyes embedded in canine skulls stared at him in what appeared to be shock.

Steve felt a hesitant hand on his shoulder. He hadn't heard anyone behind him, so he jumped, and James removed his hand quickly. Shame flooded Steve. He slung an arm around James' shoulder (the knife had disappeared somewhere into his gear) and hugged him tight.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do," Natasha told the brown wolf sharply. The spy still hadn't put her gun away.

"Damn straight," Steve muttered, "But maybe you should at least point your gun down? You don't wave your gun around during negotiations," Steve hissed.

"Is it negotiations when only one side can talk?" Natasha snapped back, reluctantly lowering her weapon.

The wolf that looked startlingly like Leah turned to the rest of the wolves. They, in turn, stared at the huge black wolf emerging from the trees. It, no, he, was still bleeding, globules of mixed blood and drool dropping from his maw.

He padded gently towards them, standing between his pack mates.

Ignoring him, Leah walked forward, claws marking the cold dirt. Steve dropped to his knees, shield falling down beside him. He was vaguely aware of James taking a step towards him, as if to shield him from danger.

Leah paused. One paw lifted off the ground, and it looked like she was trying to take another step toward, but it was like there was something physically holding her back.

"Leah?" Steve asked, and she snarled. Her body shook like something was hurting her, and Steve felt his heart stop beating.

She reached her paw forward and dragged herself toward him by her claws.

Her whole body wracked in pain, and reflexively she took a step back.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked worriedly, taking a step forward.

"Don't!" Natasha ordered sharply, but Leah had already winced away from him.

Wordlessly, Steve stared as Leah turned her tail and walked slowly away, back into the trees. Her eyes met his several times over her shoulder as she looked back, but she didn't stop.

Confusion etched deep in every frown line on his face, he turned to look at Natasha.

"Why?" he asked, and he was shocked at how helpless he sounded. But the odd emptiness in his heart- it hurt so badly, he wondered if it had been torn away.

Natasha shook her head, "I don't know. But you saw her bodying language- it wasn't voluntary.

James snarled at this, deep in the back of his throat. The knife was back between iron fingers, swinging threateningly.

"I don't like it either," Natasha told him, carefully taking a step back.

"Let's go home, Buck," Steve muttered softly, reaching a hand to James' shoulder to lead him away, past the still staring werewolves.

James followed without complaint.


	9. Are We Out Of The Woods Yet?

Leah had watched from the bushes as Steve bundled his friend into the shower, then set about finding spare clothes for him to wear. Currently, Steve was seated at the small side table, creating a baker's dozen sandwiches with the lot. The look in his eyes was almost blank, his movements automatic, as if his brain just needed to pause. She wondered if super soldiers really ate that much, or if Steve was trying to keep his hands busy, now that his best friend was back from the dead, and his sort-of girlfriend was a werewolf who wanted nothing to do with him.

Outside the motel, Natasha was on the phone, but her eyes weren't still for a second as she examined the area around her. Her piercing blue eyes didn't even paused as they passed over Leah, yet the wolf had the distinct impression that she had been spotted by the Black Widow.

Because the red headed woman with deadly knife throwing skills that hung out with Captain America couldn't possibly be anyone else. Leah remembered the man that had fought Jared off, and wondered if he was a super hero too.

That would make three super heroes, and one super assassin. She really didn't want to think too deeply on that.

Despite everything, killing all those people, shooting her little brother's best friend in the leg, all Leah wanted was for James Barnes to get better. He was Steve's friend, the person he cared about most in this world. And somehow, that didn't sting. Leah had seen the empty look in the man's face, heard him growl as she left, when he realised she didn't have a choice.

Something had gone very wrong for James Buchanan Barnes. Someone had turned him into a shell of who he was, a machine without free will. She knew a little of what that was like.

Turning around to head back home, she left the Widow to wonder if she should tell Steve about his kind-of girlfriend watching over him from the shadows. Personally, if it got her off the phone with Stark, who was trying to figure out what was going on, then she'd gladly tell her friend.

* * *

When Leah opened the front door, she was confronted by the sight of the pack, sprawled across her mother's large cushions and throw blankets. She didn't want the pack. She just wanted Steve's company. Their presence made the homey effect Sue had created a lot less comforting.

Especially when they all paused in their chatter.

Instead of rushing past them, she stood in the door way and glared right back. She was due a lot of groveling from a lot of people. Was it too much to ask for a simple apology?

Jared stood up slowly, a wary look on his face, "Leah?" he asked.

"Yes Jared?" she answered. The rest of the pack watched silently, expression's mirroring Jared's own cautious face. Leah was almost giddy with an emotion she couldn't name, but one that elated her heart, almost making her smile. Were they really going to admit they were wrong?

"Is Steve really Captain America?" Jared asked breathlessly.

Leah's face quickly turned into a storm cloud. She shouldered her way through the pack, toward the kitchen.

"What's up with the Winter Soldier?" she heard someone call after her.

"Wouldn't it be cool if I got a scar for once?" she heard Paul mutter to someone else, "then I'd get to say that the Black Widow knifed me!"

Leah was scowling as she entered the kitchen, finding her mother arguing with Seth while Quil sat on the table, leg bandaged where he had been shot.

"Why would you want to keep it?" Sue was saying, holding something small behind her back in her gloved hand, blood colouring the white plastic bright crimson.

"So that he can have something to remember this by!" Seth was begging, holding a glass jar out to her beseechingly. Quil nodded eagerly at Sue, and she sighed, dropping the bullet into the jar with a 'tink'!

"I thought the two of you hated Steve, and were terrified of that fellow with the metal arm," Sue grumbled, stripping the gloves off her hands and washing them under the sink.

"It was a misunderstanding," Quil explained, flexing his leg experimentally.

"We did, but then he turned out to be Captain America. And Captain America is the best Avenger after Thor, and he'd never have hurt me an' Quil on purpose. He's Captain America!" Seth agreed, hopping up on to the table next to Quil.

Leah raised her brow, leaning against the door frame. At least her brother had hanged his tune.

"Except when his best friend shot Quil," Sue said, hands firmly on her hips.

"That guy is not right in the head. We attacked, and he went all survivalist mode. I think he needs a shrink," Seth said, frowning, "or ten."

Sue sighed, "Get off my nice kitchen table."

While the two boys complied, Sue caught her daughter's eye over the table.

"I hope you realise you need to apologise to your sister," Sue told Seth sternly.

Leah could see Seth's shoulder slump from where she stood behind him, and he nodded slowly at the ground.

"Hey Seth," Leah called, and his head shot up to look at her.

"You know, when I was at the Port Angeles library, this lovely librarian mentioned I looked like one of her regular customers," she said sweetly. Seth and Quil shot each other a worried look, while Sue turned her back to clean up the dishes.

"I'm sorry!" Seth blurted, "I should have trusted you more. He's your imprint," he said, Quil nodding eagerly behind him.

The mention of Steve made her heart pang, brought back the memory of Steve's distraught face as she left him behind.

Seth mouthed words at her, and years of carrying out conversations without their parents knowledge made reading Seth's lips easy to decipher.

'You won't tell mum?' he mouthed, wide eyes begging. Leah shrugged her shoulders loosely.

'You have forgiven me, right?' he mouthed again.

She had forgiven him. If there was one person she could never hate, it was her baby brother. But he didn't know that.

"Not yet," she said aloud. Seth turned even paler.

"Anyone know where Sam is?" she asked, turning away from her terrified little liar of a brother.

"No. Why?" Sue asked, turning back to Leah, dishtowel still in hand.

"I've gotta make him take back the order," Leah explained.

Sue scowled, "Of course. Would he be at his house?"

Both boys shook their heads, "Em kicked him out," Quil explained.

Leah's eyes went wide with shock, "Why?" she asked.

Quil and Seth shared another wide eyed look, both as scared as they had been when Leah threatened to tell Sue about Seth's new found hobby.

"Something about him still being in love with Leah," Seth admitted quietly. He said the words under his breath, as if saying them too loud would cause a natural disaster. Or supernatural, as the case may be.

Leah felt as though a tidal wave had pulled her into it's undertow and was dragging her along the sharp coral and sand at the bottom of the waves.

"No," Leah snapped, "No! He doesn't get to dump me when we were getting engaged for my cousin, and then still claim to love me. Has this what this whole shit fest has been all about?" she stared at her mother and younger brother. Neither held the answer.

"This wasn't about the safety of the pack. Or even my safety," Leah realised, "He just couldn't let go."

Her head felt heavy, like a lead balloon. All this time...

"I think now would be a good time to say I'm sorry. Again," Seth muttered. But Leah shook her head.

"You were seriously worried about me. You thought Sam was too. I can't blame you for what Sam did. He's supposed to be the adult, the alpha. You're just a kid," Leah said, staring at her brother. This had gone far enough. She wasn't going to let anyone else get hurt.

She lurched forward, and Seth opened his arms for a hug, but she brushed past him and raced out the back door, leaving him standing with his arms out.

"Thanks, buddy," Quil said, hugging him tightly.

Seth wrinkled his nose, and shoved his friend away.

"I was trying to lighten the mood!" Quil protested, "Plus, you shoved an injured person. An injured shot person! Rude!" he yelled.

* * *

Emily was sitting on the porch when Leah arrived. The house was oddly quiet without the teenaged werewolves playing video games, and scarfing down food. Like it was empty of life.

Leah had the odd memory of doing this a lot-sitting by herself, staring off into the distance, but not focusing on a thing except the pain. Carefully, she sat down next to Emily, close enough that the soft wind lifted Emily's long hair to tickle Leah's face.

"Jared called," Emily said eventually, "He told me what happened at the cave."

"I wonder how he found it. The only person I ever told was Steve," Leah mused.

"I never told anyone," Emily said, "After our fall out- it was a piece of you that no one could take from me," she admitted.

Leah stared at her, frowning, as if she still didn't quite understand.

"You kept sticking up for me," Leah said softly.

Emily through her a sad smile, "Of course I did. You're practically my sister. I love you. And you got dealt a pretty bad hand," she admitted, quirking her eyebrows. Leah smiled to herself at the familiar expression.

"We all did," she told Emily.

Emily huffed at Leah's words, not quite laughter, not quite anger, but somewhere in between. Yet she didn't say a word.

That was when Leah realised, that it was her turn. Her turn to support Emily as best she could. To make sure Emily was okay.

"Em... you don't have to listen to me. I know I didn't listen to you at all-"

"It was like talking to a wall," Emily admitted, and Leah grinned, leaning towards Emily to bump her, shoulder to shoulder.

"Do what you want. You don't need to factor in the imprint if you don't want to," Leah said, the wolf part screaming at the insult to the sacred bond. But Leah ignored it. Emily had to what was right for her-no wolf input necessary.

"Move to the city, see the world. Or stay right here, if it's just for the family, or if you want to work it out with Sam. Just do what you want to do," Leah tried to explained as best she could, but found it wasn't easy. She had to search for the worlds, instead of letting them tumble out as she yelled.

"If I leave, the imprint will hurt Sam-"

"So what? Make the choice for you, Emily," Leah was practically begging, "You're so caring, a lot more then me. You put everyone else before you. It's time to stop that. Time to be selfish," Leah nearly yelled, she was so worked up, "You deserve it."

Emily blushed, looking away, "That being said- how is Sam?" she asked.

Leah shrugged carelessly, "Physically, he should be fine by now. But I'm sure his pride's taken a hit- I mean, Captain America beat the shit out of him."

Leah couldn't help but grin at the thought, and much to her surprise, so did Emily.

"It feels good- not that he's hurt," Emily hurried to correct, not that Leah would have cared, "But that his ego's taking a beating. He, he could do with getting knocked down a peg or two," she admitted.

Leah snorted, "I'll say," she agreed, "It was pretty satisfying watching Steve beat him up. Though, I kinda wanted to do it myself."

The two cousins sat in silence for a while, watching the birds fly through the sky.

"Captain America," Emily finally mused, "That explains a lot."

"Mmm-hmmm," Leah agreed, laughing at the absurdity that was her life.

"So did the serum enhance _everything ___?" Emily asked slyly.

Leah's mouth fell open as her cousin, of all people, made a dick joke. She snorted, then burst out laughing, while Emily bit her lip. Then the laughter escaped, and both girls were on their backs on the wooden porch, laughing so hard they felt as though their ribs would brake.

"When I find out, you'll be the first to know," Leah assured her when she found her breath, sending both girls into giggles again.

Laying there, in the cool afternoon air, staring up at the wooden beams of the porch roof, Leah felt safe. For that moment, everything was as it should be. Everything was perfect.

But the worries of the past few days still circled her mind, and when Leah sat up, they sunk in, battle ready. Would Bucky Barnes be okay? What did finding him mean for Steve? For them? Was Steve still hurt she left?

Why would he even want her at all?

"Stop thinking that way," Emily snapped, propping herself up on her elbows.

"I've seen the way he looks at you, at stupid as that sounds. Besides, you're the only female wolf, Leah. Of course you had to imprint on someone at least half as amazing as you are," Emily grinned, and Leah found it infectious, begrudgingly returning the gesture.

"Ugh. I already had a heart to heart with Seth today. Why can't people just figure out their problems without having to talk 'bout it?" she complained, smile still evident on her face.

"So how was being an adult today?" Emily grinned, and Leah groaned comically.

"Awful," she moaned, "But I might as well get it all over with. I gotta find Sam, get him to take that stupid Alpha order back," Leah said, the smile slipping off her face.

She stood up slowly, and every bone in her body weary. Emily held out her hand, and Leah helped her cousin, her friend, _her ___sister to her feet.

Emily lurched forward and wrapped Leah in the biggest hug her small body would allow. It never ceased to surprise Leah how much warmth could be contained in such a small package.

They pulled apart, and Emily was smiling melancholily.

"Love you, sis," she said.

"Love you too," Leah grinned back. With a nod of goodbye, she turned and walked away.

"Leah," Emily called out, and Leah turned around, questioning look on her face.

"Make it a good punch," Emily told her. She grinned in reply and darted off into the woods.

* * *

Walking out of the dark, leafy forest, straight onto the sandy beach had always felt magical to Leah. Like stepping from one magical world to another.

When she finally found Sam sitting on a log by shore, staring out to see, she felt light. Not with childish glee, but nervous energy. With each step she took towards him, she tried quashing the ugly sense of foreboding rising up within her.

"Sam!" she called, her voice deeper than intended, almost catching on the name.

He ignored her, staring out to sea, where the growing darkness was making it difficult to discern the water from the sky.

"Sam," Leah said to his ear, as calmly as she could force herself to be, "take back the order". She wondered if there was some cosmic meaning in the fact her statement hadn't been a question.

Sam paused before answering, "I've been thinking about that," he said slowly.

"Imprint should trump alpha orders any day. The question is, why weren't you strong enough to break it?"

He said it as though he was discussing the weather, not for the poisonous remark that it was. When he finally turned to look at her with his calm brown eyes, Leah knew exactly what to do.

She punched him. Straight on the nose. Blood spurted out over his face.

Sam stepped forward and Leah punched him again, this time in the eye socket. He punched her, fist connecting duly with her face, at odds with the sharp pain, and she felt blood dripping down into her mouth.

With a harsh kick to his stomach, Leah forced Sam to the sand, where he gasped. His eyes focused behind her on something just out of her sight, but Leah didn't care. She was angry, and upset-and Sam was too. His imprint had just kicked him out, and he was attacking with fervour the only person he could blame.

Grunting, she fell down after him, his punch making her dizzy. But not dizzy enough to stop her from landing blow after blow on his face and body.

Leah was panting for breath as she finally stood, legs shaky.

"I know Steve is wonderful. I am going to be spending the rest of my life trying to deserve him," she hissed out between blood and spit, her chest heaving with every word.

"But don't you dare say I'm not trying."

Sam looked up at her, blood covering his face. Then his gaze slipped behind her again. Expecting the worse, Leah took a deep breath and turned.

Gathered at the tree line stood the pack, silently watching. They all stood stock still, but tense, as if waiting to bound into action.

Clenching her trembling fists, she marched forward, stopping only metres away from the pack, so suddenly that she felt her body lurched forward. Against her best wishes, she felt herself trembling. She was tired-the effort not to phase while so angry had exhausted her, and the prospect of facing the pack now, after what they had just witnessed, was terrifying. Leah grit her teeth and held her head high.

Not so gently, Jared pushed a stony faced Paul forward. Leah frowned.

Jared elbowed him again, and Paul let out a huff of air through his nose.

"Sorry," he ground out between clenched teeth. Leah blinked. This time, Jared stepped heavily on his foot.

"We fucked up. We shouldn't have just let Sam get away with all this crap," and if Leah's eyes weren't deceiving her, he actually looked ashamed.

Jared stepped forward, "We should have said something. At first we thought he was right, then we were scared- but I think we still knew that he was wrong," Jared glanced down, no longer able of meeting her eyes.

"And when you saved Steve and his friend, we could feel that you were scared too. Angry, and terrified. We didn't know how to react to that. And I think we can agree you were the most fucked over by all of this. But you were still doing the right thing. Protecting people from monsters."

"You're not monsters," Leah said automatically.

"We were kind of acting like it," Colin piped up from the back.

Slowly the rest of the pack nodded their agreement. There was a pregnant pause as Leah assessed the group.

"Why'd you make Paul apologise?" she asked unsmilingly.

Jared shrugged, "Because coming from him, you'd believe it," he explained.

Leah raised her brown, "Pretty sure I still can't believe it," she said, cloudy face turning into a grudging smile at Paul, who rolled his eyes.

Jared shrugged, "And we knew it would piss him off," he admitted, grinning.

Leah then gave an honest smile, which the pack ecstatically, if somewhat cautiously, returned. Jared took a step forward, and engulfed her in a huge hug. Her cheek hurt where it pressed into his shoulder, and she was pretty sure she got blood on his shirt.

"... Your imprint is Captain America," Brady squealed, breaking the mood.

"Oh my GOD," Leah groaned, shoving a chuckling Jared away.

"Seriously?" she demanded. The younger pack members were practically bouncing out of their skin, even the older ones looking giggly.

"He's a _superhero __," Brady explained, shrieking slightly._

Instead of growling at him, Leah just smiled and shook her head. It was difficult to say who was more surprised by her reaction-herself, or the pack. 

"So we were heading to the diner- want to come with? We'll pay for a chocolate milkshake. Your favourite," Jared offered hopefully. 

Biting her cheek, she glanced quickly behind her. Footprints in the sand showed Sam had left, disappearing down the shore and around the large rocks. 

"Actually, I need to talk to Steve," Leah said to Jared, pushing back the tingle of nerves saying that sentence caused. 

"Of course. Do you need backup?" Jared asked, and Leah looked around to see the rest of the pack watching her eagerly. 

Leah shook her head, "No thanks. Some things, I just gotta do myself," she clapped Jared on the shoulder, nodding her thanks. 

As she was walking her way towards the forest-towards Steve-Jared called out. 

"You got Sam to reverse the Alpha order?" he yelled. 

Leah grinned tightly to herself, face setting into determination. 

"Nope," she said softly, turning to go again. 

"Wait!" Jared called, and she turned around again, slightly annoyed. She found Colin, Brady and Seth frowning at Jared, who blinked back uncertainly. 

"What?" she demanded. 

"Uh- Nothing?" Jared questioned. The slight nods of approval the younger boys gave him did not escape her notice. Leah rolled her eyes, firmly turned her back. She ran into the forest until she completely disappeared from view. Then, she let the deep breath she had been holding out. 

And she ran. For once, she wasn't trying to escape her fears. 

* * *

Back at the beach, Jared was frowning at Colin. 

"Someone's gotta tell her!" he said, frowning, "she's got blood down one side of her face, for fuck's sake." 

"It'll be more _romantic_ ," Colin explained. Jared stared at him, and he rushed to continue.

"She'll rock up, and he'll be all worried and take care of her, and patch up her up, and it will be really cute and sweet," he explained, more than slightly patronizingly. 

Paul choked on a laugh. 

"I should've told her," Jared groaned, "and what kind of stupid movies have you idiots been watching?" he glared. 


	10. You Felt Enough

Steve had stuffed Bucky with as much food as he could find, (three full-sized chocolate bars, several apples and a litre of orange juice) then tucked him into his motel bed. Bucky had sniffed suspiciously the food, till Steve took a bite, which caused Bucky to frown- the same frown he used to give when Steve told him to get his bruises checked out in the infirmary after a battle. But this time, he didn't utter a word of complaint. Steve was so used to Bucky's reaction (stop mother hennin' me, punk) that he replied to words Bucky hadn't said.

"Pot, kettle, jerk," he grumbled, throwing his pillow at Bucky. Immediately, he winced at his action. Steve could feel the heat of unshed tears prickling at his eyes.

Bucky stared at the pillow grasped tight in his hands, his flesh fist clenching so tightly, the tendons on his hand looked as though they were about to burst. Then he blinked, his expression relaxing, and he nodded to himself.

"Sleep," he said, "The Asset-no. ...I, I haven't slept."

He didn't say how long ago his last break was, and Steve wasn't sure he'd get an answer if he asked. Not that he wanted to know. Not really.

"You can have my bed," Steve said, gesturing to the sagging motel mattress behind him.

Bucky stared at him from behind a curtain of hair, but slowly he rose to his feet, still clutching the pillow in his hands, and made his way over to the bed. Almost robotically, he slid between the sheets, lying on his side and closing his eyes.

Steve didn't miss how his flesh hand clenched around the pillow before going limp.

"I'll be right here," he promised quietly. _I'm here. I'm not leaving. Not again. ___

"The girl," Bucky said, eyes opening just a crack.

"Yes?" Steve asked.

Bucky didn't answer, just frowned pensively at him. Then he turned around so he was facing the wall. His heart slowed, and his breath evened out.

Despite the dismissal, Steve smiled. Bucky had left himself open to attack by facing the wall, away from the door. Away from him.

Though Steve knew his friend was not asleep, despite his careful breaths and slow heart beat mimicked it perfectly, he smiled. It was a start. He stretched his legs out, resting deep in his chair.

But happiness didn't settle around him. Not completely. It was still there, in the corner of his mind. After all, he had Bucky back. Bucky was already getting better. He knew he could trust Steve. And Bucky was back.

Steve knew he should be happy. He should be giddy with joy. But he felt nearly as awful as when he had first arrived in the twenty first century. Tension had been running high within him all day. He though it would recede a bit-but now that he had time to himself, it sprung back up, the leak turning into a full out flood.

He found himself clenching and unclenching his back teeth unconsciously, and he stopped, rubbing a hand over his jaw. He'd forgotten to shave. Huffing at this, he stopped and shook his head.

 _Not exactly the end of the world, Rogers, ___he reminded himself. He crossed his legs. Just as the prickle in the corner of his eye turned into something more, someone knocked at the door.

_When the door opened, it wasn't Natasha, or Maria. Or even Clint, armed with his small repertoire of bad jokes, that only got worse the more he repeated them. _Where's Leah? ___a surprisingly loud part of his mind whispered._

__"Steve. I left you alone for two weeks. Two. Freaking. Weeks. And what do you do? You find Bucky, take down a group of HYDRA assassins, meet a group of killer werewolves, and fall in love with one of them!" Sam glared down at Steve._ _

__Usually, Steve would find his friend's tirade amusing. But now, it just made him tired._ _

__"Leah's not a killer. And I never said I fell in love," he grumbles._ _

__"The way Natasha and Clint tell it, you have little hearts in your eyes like an anime character," Sam said, closing the door sharply behind him. Finally, his eyes travelled past Steve to the sleeping man behind him._ _

__"Wha- For fucks sake Steve, why isn't he in hospital?" Sam demanded, "the guys been tortured for seventy years, and on the run for the past couple of months. He should be getting checked out by a doctor, not falling asleep in a shitty motel."_ _

__Steve noticed a change in Bucky's heart rate, imperceptible to anyone's ears but his own._ _

__"When he wakes up, if he wants to go to the hospital, I'll take him. But why don't you just ask if you can have a look over anything he's worried about. You used to be a field medic, didn't you?" Steve said, voice venturing into begging territory._ _

__Sam huffed at him._ _

__"Damn superheroes," he muttered to himself, marching over to the only other piece of furniture in the room that could be used as a seat._ _

__"Think they're fucking invincible," he sat on the small table with force, then jumped up when it let out a pathetic creak._ _

__"Do you want...?" Steve began, raising out of his chair, but Sam just scowled at him._ _

__"Shut up," he grumbled, flopping on the floor, sprawling out on the hard wooden floors._ _

__Steve decided it was probably for the best if he kept his mouth shut. He took a deep breath, and listened for Bucky's heart beat- it had settled again, and it's beat was comfortably steady._ _

__A minute later, Sam let out a groan._ _

__"Even the floors here are damp and depressing," he muttered, sitting up._ _

__"This is even worse than my break. You know, I had to go home and explain to my mother why I do not have a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. I thought you, at least, would be pretending to have fun somewhere warm and sunny. Why the hell did you pick to stay here for your break?"_ _

__Steve rolled his eyes, "They have beautiful scenery here."_ _

__Sam smirked at him, "You talkin' bout the greenery or the girl?"_ _

__"Wouldn't you like to know?" Steve smirked, crossing his arms over his chest._ _

__"You know, if the history books had said you were sassy little shit, I might actually have gotten an A in my exam," Sam smiled._ _

__"But seriously. When this is all over, we are going somewhere nice and warm. With beaches. And happy dolphins. Like Hawaii. Or Australia. Just you, me, and Mr Man-Bun over there," Sam said._ _

__Steve huffed out a laugh at Sam's nickname for Bucky. Unlike the last time he was mentioned, Bucky's heart rate didn't jump, and Steve wondered if he'd actually fallen asleep._ _

__Sam was staring pensively at the ceiling._ _

__"If your girlfriend comes, can we invite Maria?" he asked._ _

__"Sure," Steve said, deciding not to argue with Sam's wording, "but she's way out of your league."_ _

__Biting down on his grin, Steve nearly choked when Sam pursed his lips and squinted at him._ _

__"I regret teaching you modern lingo," he informed him, but Steve could hear the teasing tone under his grumbling complaint._ _

__"You know, I get that a lot," Steve said frowning innocently at the ceiling, "but isn't that a good thing? Everyone's always telling me to catch up."_ _

__"If you looked back, I'm pretty sure you'd realise how annoying your cutesy little comments are," Sam glared, "as if you don't already," he muttered under his breath._ _

__"I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now," Steve said seriously, not one twitch of his lips suggesting he wasn't serious._ _

__Sam groaned, flopping back on the floor, "you do realise that next time we have a team meeting, you have an obligation to tell Thor, 'no capes'?"_ _

__"Only if Fury is there," Steve said, finally breaking into a smile. If it wasn't as cheerful as usual, he didn't notice. Sam, on the other hand, definitely did, his brow creasing slightly._ _

__"Why did you stay in Forks?" Sam asked._ _

__Steve finds that he's not completely comfortable with the question, like the chair he is sitting on suddenly has one leg too short._ _

__"Did you come here just to complain?" Steve asked, forcing a grin._ _

__"Did you come here just to mope?" Sam replied teasingly, "because I'm happy to help."_ _

__"For a therapist, you have a terrible bedside manner," Steve told him._ _

__"Talk to me when I'm not sitting on a damp floor in Forks."_ _

__This time, that fact that Steve hadn't answered didn't escape either man._ _

__The room had settled into a pensive quite when a sharp knock sounded on the door._ _

__"Come in," Steve called quietly, Maria opening the door. She eyed Sam for second, who was scrambling to his feet, then fixed her stare on Steve._ _

__"Pepper called. The Government is calling for a senate inquiry about the whole SHIELD/HYDRA fuck up."_ _

__Steve felt his teeth grinding away at the enamel. He wondered idly if it would grow back._ _

__"When?" he asked sharply._ _

__"Could be a week, to months. We've got no way of knowing, now. But they might call you to attend. Potts and I held them off your back those first few weeks, with you being in hospital. But when they get organised, I doubt you'll be able to avoid it. You too," she directed at Sam._ _

__Steve could feel the dread building in his chest, a tangible weight. He was so stressed, so tired and worried, that he wasn't able to explain to himself the awful sick feeling._ _

__"Steve, take my advice," Maria said, in an uncharacteristically soft voice, "whatever the hell it is that's going on here, sort it out now. In a couple weeks, you might not be able to."_ _

__She shut the door sharply behind her, but in the sudden silence it sounded like a slam._ _

* * *

__Leah's shirt was suck over her head, pulling painfully at her hair, and in her thrashing, she managed to step on a thorn in the forest floor and snarled. She couldn't deal with this right now._ _

__When she finally managed to pull her shirt down, she came faced to face with Natalie. Except, that probably wasn't the red head's name. The woman was the Black Widow, after all. One of the only mere mortals on a team comprised of gods and super soldiers. Who had managed to sneak up on a werewolf._ _

__Well aware the Black Widow had seen parts of her considered private, Leah crossed her arms under her chest. Perhaps she would have been embarrassed if everyone of her pack hadn't caught a look at least once. And kept looking. The hazards of being a shapeshifter in a pack of teenaged boys._ _

__The red head didn't move her eyes from Leah's when she called out to the sandy haired man standing next to her._ _

__"You can look now, Barton," she said sternly, and the man turned around._ _

__"Thank god," he muttered, "If I'd had to stand still any longer I'd have had to pee."_ _

__Leah recognised his stern face, at odds with his cheerfully off-beat words, from the memories the pack had shared. Several times over. He was the man who had socked Jared in the face._ _

__Despite being faced with two people who could probably beat the shit out of her, and were stopping her from getting to her goal, Leah was flattered. She couldn't remember the last time a man had tried not to get an eyeful. Maybe that was what made her stop, and pick her words, instead of plowing ahead._ _

__"I'm not here for a fight. I just want to talk to Steve," she said calmly-or as calmly as she could, with her whole body shaking._ _

__"And we're totally cool with that," the man called Barton said, "but we do need to have a little chit-chat."_ _

__His eyes flittered, watching her fists clench and unclench, limbs almost vibrating._ _

__Leah squinted at him, not so much offended as still amazed at the contrast between his words and grumpy, slightly squashed face._ _

__Natalie raised one perfect brow at the man, but let him continue._ _

__"If you hurt one cell of Stevie's perfectly pure heart, I'll rip your perky little breasts off," he said cheerfully._ _

__Apparently he expected the slap to the back of his head, because he flinched a second before the Black Widow's hand made contact. Leah, on the other hand, was pretty much stunned._ _

__"You are too old to be watching A Very Potter Musical, much less be quoting from it," Natalie told him sternly. She turned back to Leah._ _

__"I feel I should reintroduce myself," Natalie said._ _

__"You gotta do that often?" Leah asked, an irrational anger bubbling inside her._ _

__"My name is Natasha Romanov," the other woman ignored her question, "You may call me Natasha."_ _

__When Leah didn't reply, Barton frowned._ _

__"You all right there?" he asked cautiously, eyeing her up and down._ _

__"Yeah," Leah muttered, "you just... weren't what I expected."_ _

__Barton nodded in agreement, "I have a bitchy resting face," he explained wisely._ _

__Natasha rolled her eyes. Leah got the feeling she did this a lot, yet it did not subtract from the fear factor. Not that Leah was scared. At all._ _

__Who was she kidding, she was facing the Black Widow in the woods. She had a right to be slightly nervous._ _

__"I meant, not everyone would have tried to not get an eyeful," Leah explained quickly. She just wanted to go- while the need to see Steve, and make sure there wasn't a scratch on him had abated while she ran, it was coming back in full force._ _

__Was it just her imagination, or did the Black Widow's jaw tighten?_ _

__"Are you talking about the same people who gave you that blood nose?" Natasha asked softly._ _

__Leah's shaking hand immediately raised to swipe under her nose- the blood was almost entirely dried now, apparently only her nerves keeping her from feeling the crusty layer that it had formed._ _

__"Jared," she hissed to herself._ _

__"Not exactly," she explained, wiping the blood on her shorts, "Sometimes, we can't control the change, or we have to do it really fast-and I'm sure you've noticed, clothes don't always manage to stay put."_ _

__"And the nose?" Natasha asked._ _

__Leah smirked wickedly, "You should see the other guy."_ _

__Natasha looked at her, evaluating, then nodded her head, moving aside. Barton followed suit._ _

__Carefully, Leah took a step forward, past her. A small hand on her shoulder made her stop abruptly, pulling on her nerves. The need to see Steve was almost at boiling point._ _

__"As immature as Barton may have been, he was right about one thing," Natasha spoke softly into her ear. Then she stepped back, allowing Leah's imagination to fill in any gaps._ _

__Leah didn't bother telling her it was useless. Hurting Steve would be akin to biting off her own limb. Limbs which were currently trembling with the effort not to phase and run to his side._ _

__Walking forward, out of the trees towards his motel room, she could feel another force as well. A fist, slowly increasing it's clenching hold on her brain, telling her to stop. Go no further. Thou shalt not pass._ _

__The closer she came to Steve's room, the stronger the fist came, till her headache was almost blinding. Just as it had been on the cliff._ _

__She took a step forward. The old door swung open, framing Steve. He stood frozen, as if taking a step forward would spook her._ _

__Leah felt her heart skip a beat. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but no words came out, like he wasn't quite sure exactly what he wanted to say. Leah couldn't blame him._ _

__Steve grunted as someone pushed him forward, slamming the door shut behind him. He turned, glaring at the door for a second._ _

__"Can, can I come closer?" he asked worriedly. Seeing the worry in his eyes just about broke her heart. And for once, should couldn't blame the imprint. At least not entirely._ _

__Because he cared for her. Someone cared enough that they didn't want to cause her any pain. He wasn't family, he didn't have to. The imprint didn't feel the same strength of the bond unless they chose to. He chose to care. He chose her._ _

__"Yes-No, wait!" Leah called and Steve paused. She wondered if his face was always so expressive, or if it was just because it was her that she could see the pain written so deeply on his face._ _

__"Stay there," she instructed. Carefully, she took one step forward. The pain she'd been trying to suppress burst forward, and it took all her strength not to flinch back._ _

__Slowly, steadily, she walked towards him. Only three meters away, she let out a painful hiss, and Steve leant forward, worry evident in his features._ _

__Two more steps and she was there, limbs shaking. Spots of light interrupted her vision, but she could still make out his face. Taking a deep breath, it caught._ _

__She leant forward and kissed him._ _

__It was like the dam had broken. But rather than feeling numb from the pain, waves of bliss rolled over her. Relief, and excitement and want and love swirled around her. She smiled into the kiss, and put her arms around Steve's shoulders to draw him closer._ _

__"I love you," she whispered against his lips._ _

__She felt him smile, sliding his arms around her. He broke the kiss, and stared into her eyes, an uncontrollable smile on his face, despite the slow tears rolling down his red cheeks._ _

__Resting his forehead against hers, he whispered hoarsely, "I love you."_ _

__Leah had never been happier that they were the same height-that it took no effort to simply look at each other._ _

__A cheer rose up from behind Steve, and she looked over his shoulder to see two men in the window of his room-one whooping and laughing, giving her and Steve theatrically large applause, the other staring at her with deep-set eyes._ _

__The man on the hill. James Buchanan Barnes._ _

__Steve had buried his nose into the crook of her neck in embarrassment, but she could tell he was smiling. Warm salty tears gathered on her skin, but she didn't mention them. For all Steve had gone through, he needed to cry. He shook slightly, taking a deep breath._ _

__"Is your friend going to be okay?" she asked him softly, watching out of the corner of her eye as the other man pulled the curtains across the window to give them privacy-or as much privacy as one could get, standing in the middle of a motel parking lot._ _

__Steve sighed, a warm gust of breath ghosting over her bare skin, then straightened._ _

__"Life hasn't been easy for him. He-we were friends from before the war, but HYDRA took him, and performed all sorts of experiments," Steve swallowed, "then they brainwashed him. It's gonna take a lot for him to get better, but he will," Steve said._ _

__Leah wondered who the promise was to, him, herself, or James Barnes._ _

__"Of course he will," Leah told him, "Now he's got you."_ _

__Steve hugged so tightly, if she'd been anyone else it would have hurt. As it was, she felt so safe in his arms. From the way he clung to her, he felt exactly the same._ _

__She laughed. Not a cutesy giggle, but full on laughter, the kind that makes you feel your ribs are about to break._ _

__Steve snorted at her, holding her tight, and cocked his head._ _

__"You all right?" he asked, still grinning._ _

__"As rain," she told him, returning his smile._ _

__His smile dropped, worry returning, and he gently placed a hand on her cheek. Instinctively, she curled into it. If it was anyone else, she may have been embarrassed at her reaction, but as it was she barely noticed it._ _

__"Has your nose been bleeding?" he asked, carefully tracing over her lip with one calloused thumb._ _

__Leah groaned. Apparently she hand't managed to wipe away all the dried blood._ _

__"I promise, I'm fine. I just didn't think it was fair that you were the only one allowed to beat up Sam."_ _

__A spilt second of confusion coloured Steve's face before it cleared._ _

__"Sam was the black wolf," he realised._ _

__"Yeah," Leah said, grinning, "You didn't wonder why you hated him so much?"_ _

__At Steve's look, she laughed again, before sobering slightly._ _

__"Sam is our pack's alpha. So when he says jump, we whine a lot and he rolls his eyes. But sometimes, when he thinks it's a really big deal, he'll give us an alpha order- and we have no choice but to follow it. We physically cannot disobey."_ _

__Steve's brow creased, "He ordered you to stay away from me."_ _

__For a second, Leah thought of the words Sam had told her - 'imprint trumps alpha orders', but she brushed it aside. That particular explanation could wait._ _

__"I'm a rebel," she told him wickedly._ _

__"Mmm, I know. It's very attractive," Steve assured her. He took a step back, and Leah missed the warmth of his body, but he took her hand and lead her to the small grassy area behind his cabin._ _

__Tired, Leah quickly sat down on the dewy grass, pulling Steve down after her. He nearly sat on her, but managed to maneuver himself to an empty patch of grass, his hand still in hers._ _

__They sat in silence for a while, simply taking in the peace, and each other._ _

__"A werewolf and a super soldier," Steve mused, "all we need is a bar."_ _

__"Technically, not a werewolf," Leah said, putting her arms on her knees so that she could rest her head to look at him. At his curious look, she elaborated._ _

__"We're spirit wolves. Like in the story of Taha Aki that Billy Black told at the campfire. No full moon required, and it's passed down through the family. All a bite from us is gonna do is bleed, and silver does jack shit."_ _

__"Okay, but you have the ability to 'shape shift'," he looked at Leah for approval, and she nodded, "into wolves, why not just call yourselves werewolves?"_ _

__Leah simply looked at him, raising her brow. She could feel his brain working away, coming to it's own conclusion without her having to say a word._ _

__"Because there are actual werewolves out there," Steve answered his own question. He groaned, laying back on the grass._ _

__"Well, Barton'll be happy," he told the sky._ _

__Leah grinned, "Back to the whole super soldier thing..." she asked._ _

__"Is that... okay?" Steve asked worriedly._ _

__"Course. I know you told me you had a secret but I was imagining more along the lines of... well, nothing normal. Who the hell can do so much damage to a freaking punching bag?"_ _

__As Steve winced and opened his mouth, Leah rolled her eyes and whacked him on the shoulder._ _

__"They're fine. Except for the whole hero-worship thing they've got going on, which is not fine. They thought you were an android."_ _

__"Bucky has a metal arm," Steve offered helpfully, trying not to laugh._ _

__"At least you're not a vampire," Leah told him, mouth quirking as she waited for his reaction._ _

__"... the normal people on this planet are screwed," he told her._ _

__Smiling, she lay down next to him, closing her eyes. The sunlight lay over them like a soft, warm blanket._ _

__Quietly, as if saying too loud would make it true, Steve said, "I can't stay here."_ _


	11. You Can Feel It On The Way Home

As Leah walked up the steps to the back porch, she could feel him watching her. Knowing that the only reason she could sense him was because he let her, she allowed herself relax, the porch light flickering on in the darkness.

The only question was, why had James Barnes followed her home?

She could hear muffled voices inside, and the door creaked open.

"Sweetheart! I thought I saw you out there. How'd everything go?" Sue asked, placing her glasses on her head and putting a bookmark in her book. She stood up from the kitchen table and hugged her daughter tightly.

Nervously, Leah hugged back.

"Steve and I are good," she told her mother. She let herself soak in the hug, and her mother's love.

"Perfect," her mother said, leaning back, "now what do I have to do to get these boys out of my house?" she nodded her head to the family room, where Leah could hear the surprisingly quiet voices of the pack.

"Starve 'em out," Leah said seriously.

"They haven't asked for anything since that red head came by-what's her name, Natalie."

Leah blinked, "Natasha was here?"

"No, I'm pretty sure it was Natalie," Sue assured her, "she and her friend Maria. She was an absolute darling-bought me two loaves of the fruit bun I like from the shops-said she would have made something, but she didn't want to poison me."

"She also said she was a friend of Steve's, and that she'd known him for a while but he'd never been happier than when he met you. I knew they'd love you," she beamed.

Thinking back to her odd, but not unpleasant interaction with Barton and Natasha in the woods, Leah nodded awkwardly, "yep."

Sue eyed her carefully, but said nothing, sitting back down at the table and retrieved her glasses.

"Now could you get those boys out of my damn house?"

Rolling her eyes, Leah entered the family room. The pack, minus Sam, were slouched around the TV, where the younger boys were engrossed in a very half-hearted game of Mario Kart. Paul, who would usually be screaming at the screen (he had a life-long ban from actually playing) was curled up on the couch, scowling to himself.

"What the hell happened to you?" Leah asked suspiciously.

As soon as she spoke, everyone in the room tensed. No one would meet her eye.

"Leah," Paul spoke to her feet, "I am so sorry," he said with feeling.

Wondering if she'd stepped in some ridiculous booby trap, Leah examined her feet, and the area around them. They were fine, if not a perfect picture of cleanliness.

Feeling nervous, Leah glared at them. Everyone except Seth flinched. He had taken the Mario Kart controls from Collin, and was whooping an apathetic Brady's arse.

"This is the best day ever," he told her gleefully.

"Guys, you already apologised once. Someone better start explaining," Leah snapped, causing the guys to stare into their laps.

"That Natalie girl was here," Seth said, still entirely to cheerful.

"And?" Leah said, thoroughly freaked out.

"Did you mention that everybody here had seen you naked?"

"... Briefly," Leah said slowly, growing more and more alarmed.

"Well, she did something to them while me and mum were talking with the other lady. And now they're scared shitless."

"Seth!" Leah snapped automatically.

"It's true! Look at them," Seth jerked his head over his shoulder.

It was an accurate description, Leah had to admit, surveying the pack, the way they refused to meet her eye-or each other's.

"And now, when we've shifted, I'm not forced to see your naked body whenever someone says your name. I don't know what she did, exactly, but isn't this awesome?"

"Awesome," Leah echoed, standing awkwardly.

"... Mum would like everyone to go home? ...Please?" she asked politely, more worried then she would like to admit.

As one, the pack stood up, filing out the front door, leaving Seth sitting by himself in front of the TV.

Seth offered the second controller up for her to take.

"It's no fun playing by myself," he said, and Leah took it. She turned it over in her hands, wondering how to tell him.

"Steve's going back to New York soon," she stated, and Seth froze.

"But, what about the imprint?" he asked, turning on his bottom to stare up at her.

Leah opened her mouth, but no words came out.

"...You're going with him," Seth stated, staring up at her.

"Maybe. I don't know," Leah admitted, sitting down next to him on the floor.

"He asked me to come with him... I said I had to think about it. He-I still haven't told him about the imprint," she half sat, half collapsed next to him.

Seth frowned, "Are you worried he won't like it?" he asked.

"I don't know," she admitted, "he's had so many choices ripped from him-I don't know how he'll react to find this one wasn't all his."

"But it was!" Seth argued, "The imprint effects _us_ strongly. He _chose_ you."

"He may not see it that way," Leah shrugged.

Suddenly, a whiff of a scent she was growing increasingly used to reached her nose. Gunpowder and leather, with a metallic aftertaste.

She spun around, already on her knees when she spotted him in the hallway. Instead of being framed in the arch, he hovered close to the shadowy wall, uncomfortable in the spotlight.

"The Asset knows what it is like to not have a choice. This is not... comparable," he said, his voice rough, as if unused. Briefly, Leah wondered who 'The Asset' was, until she realised with cold certainty he was talking about himself.

His eyes shifted rapidly from grey to blue, and he leant out of the shadows slightly.

"You're the dame he wouldn't shut up about," he murmured, crooked grin slowly emerging.

Shocked at the rapid change, that was somehow both subtle and all too much, Leah nodded, eyeing him again.

He took a step forward, towards her, and she felt her brother tense. She rose to her feet slowly, one hand out slightly to stop Seth from moving.

The man took another step forward, until Leah could look down directly into his blue eyes.

"I'll let you in on a secret," Bucky-because who else could she be talking to-said softly.

"He's an idiot, and he's gonna screw up. But he's worth it," his eyes focused on empty space behind her, "At least, that's how I remember it."

Something moved behind her, and his mouth tightened, eyes flickering to the noise. In the half second it took for his eyes to focus, Leah realised they lacked colour once again.

He took a step backward, eyes searching for something, but worriedly closed off. And then he was gone.

"What was that man doing in my house?" a voice behind her sounded, and both Leah and Seth spun around to see their mother in the kitchen doorway, lips pursed tightly as she examined the swinging front door.

"He wanted to tell Leah that she and Steve need to get it on," Seth, body still a little tight to be completely relaxed. Leah felt too overwhelmed to reprimand him.

"Hey mum, do you think if Quil asks him, he'll get an autograph to go with the bullet?"

"Seth, you leave that poor man alone," Sue instructed, "and tell Quil the same. Or he'll shoot the boy someplace it won't grow back."

Seth winced.

 

* * *

 

 

This time, Leah wasn't worried that her visit wouldn't be well received, despite the late hour. She raced up to Steve's door and was about to knock when it opened.

She stared at him.

"I heard you coming," Steve admitted awkwardly, grinning at her.

"There's more wolfy shit to tell you," she said uncomfortably. His grin was replaced with a look of concern, and he stepped outside, their chests brushing against each other, and closed the door.

"We have this thing called an imprint-where we see our, our soulmate, I guess you'd call it, for the first time, and we just know. It's like your whole world suddenly dropped out from under you, and then started spinning around a different sun," Leah said. Had she looked back, she would have winced at the poetic nonsense she'd just rambled, but that didn't make it any less true.

"You don't love me?" Steve asked, confused, and despite the sharp pain to her chest of Steve hurting, she snorted.

"I already confessed my love once. I don't say that to any old superhero," she said, "I imprinted on you. The second I saw you."

"That's why you ran from the diner," Steve realised. She nodded.

"I-do I feel it too?" he asked hesitantly.

"Not as strongly," Leah admitted, "but a lot of imprints say that it felt like love at first sight-we think that's the natural attraction of two people, minus the imprint. Sort of, the imprint just makes it more obvious."

"...I knew," he said quietly.

"What?" Leah stared into his blue eyes.

"The second I saw you, it just- I knew."

Leah found herself blushing as she stared into his face, then burst out laughing when she realised he was blushing far worse.

"Just, one question," Steve asked uncertainly, eyes flickering away as the mood changed dramatically, not quite able to look her in the eye anymore. Leah frowned, and tugged at his chin until he had to face her.

"Spill," she said, almost surprising herself at how gentle she sounded.

Steve stared at her, mouth slightly open. He looked away, swallowed, then stared back.

"If you hadn't imprinted on me, would you still have picked me?" he asked quietly, jaw clenching.

Leah chewed the inside of her cheek. It was the same fear she had had, and the idea that they both had uncertainties settled something inside her. That he knew he just could come and talk to her when he was stressed, well, that was even better.

"I wouldn't have picked you out of a line up, or anything," she admitted, "But you'd have grown on me."

Steve smiled at her, "So you picked me for my dazzling personality and not my looks? That's refreshing."

He leant forward and gently bumped their noses together. Leah broke away and snorted out a laugh. Steve laughed right back at her, eventually stopping to just smile at her.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"You're wonderful," he told her gently.

Leah grinned, happiness making her feel like she could fly away, not that she wanted to. She launched herself at him to squeeze him tight. Steve yelped when she actually picked him off the ground, laughing when she swung him around.

"You're pretty wonderful to," she admitted, feeling slightly awkward at confession, "And I'm coming to New York-if you'll still have me," she said, self-doubt kicking in. Then she winced at the wording of her question. And realised she was still holding him in the air. She set him down carefully.

"Of course. I don't-the thought of leaving you behind was terrifying," Steve admitted.

"Does this mean you're also saying yes to the other offer?" he grinned, teeth stark white against the darkness.

Leah pretended to scowl at him, "I guess the world could do with one more Avenger," she allowed, "but no spandex."

"I wouldn't wish that on anyone," Steve said sincerely, eyes twinkling. It was his turn to pick her up and swing her around in celebration. Leah was pretty sure it shouldn't have felt as much like flying as it did.

Then he pretended to frown, staring up at the sky. Leah couldn't find it within herself to be irritated at how exasperatingly cute it was.

"Imprinting-don't baby ducks do that?" he mused.

Leah rolled her eyes.

"So if I called you my little duckling, exactly how irritated would you be?"

Grinning, she elbowed him.

Steve pretended to gasp, "It can be your super hero code name," he grinned, and Leah couldn't help but laugh with him, even as she shook her head.

"I'm warning you, here and now, if you do anything stupid while we're on a mission, I will be so mad. You won't care about your broken leg when I'm yelling at you," she promised him.

Steve grinned, sitting down on the small wooden deck, pulling Leah after him. They sat there for hours until they fell asleep, next to the parking lot of a run down motel. Neither was worried.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day found Leah walking up the path to Emily's house. She didn't bother knocking on the door, just flung it open and marched to where her cousin was sitting at the table, laptop in front of her.

"Hey," Emily grinned, tilting her laptop screen away, "I heard on the grapevine-New York, huh?"

Leah rolled her eyes, "My little brother has a big mouth."

"That, and he's very proud of you," Emily smiled, "So am I. Not everybody gets to say their big sis saves the world on a regular basis."

"I'm not saving the world on any basis for a while yet," Leah pulled out a chair for herself.

"I've got to figure out a million other little things first. Between me and Steve, and if the other Avengers will be happy-"

"And what your superhero name will be, and what you'll wear. You know, you could actually pull off the spande-"

"No," Leah said firmly. Emily looked at her, wide eyed, until they both burst out laughing.

Still laughing, Leah looked up to see the screen of Emily's laptop.

" _Best Universities in Seattle_?" Leah read out the google search curiously.

Emily stopped laughing, and pulled the screen slightly closer to herself.

"Yeah," she finally said with a soft smile, "I was thinking about what you said-how it's okay to be selfish."

Leah grinned at her closest friend, "And?"

Emily shrugged, "And, I've always wanted to be a teacher. Primary or High School, I'm not sure yet. But I'd love to help teach the children our language, do my part, you know?"

Leah smiled, "Yeah, I get it. Not the working with children part," she sniffed, and Emily rolled her eyes, "But wanting to make a difference."

"What about things with Sam?" Leah asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"I do want things to work out between us, and I'm willing to give it a try if he is. I want to go to couple's counseling, even if we have to fudge the details here and there," Emily smiled nervously, "and, I plan on moving to Seattle soon," she gestured to her laptop, "so maybe a bit of space will help. And if it doesn't work out," she shrugged, "I guess it doesn't work out. But I'm going to stop putting off things I want to do for him and the pack."

Leah bit her lip, trying to stop the prickling tears behind her eye. After a minute of prolonged silence, she gave up, and lunged at Emily, burying her face in her neck.

"Proud of you, sis," Leah choked out, and Emily hugged her back tightly.

 

* * *

 

 

Sighing, Sue turned to her daughter.

"You have any trouble with anyone, and you call me," she told her daughter, not giving her any say as she swept her into a tight hug.

"Ok," Leah agreed.

"And you call at least once a week, and every time after a 'mission'," Sue continued, still not letting her go.

Something collided into Leah's back, making the two women stagger.

"Miss you too," Seth said, as he squeezed them both extra tight.

Leah let him have it for a minute before throwing him off.

Seth just grinned mischievously, "and the pack is out the front to say goodbye."

"And they're bugging Steve and the others?" she groaned.

Seth shrugged, "Just a _leetle_ bit," he said, holding his thumb and forefinger as wide apart as possible.

She groaned, and marched out the front.

Clint was very carefully not touching Steve's bike, as Steve glared at him from where he leant up against the car. Leah could just make out a shadowy figure in the backseat. Bucky was coming home.

Maria and Sam had left early to get things settled in New York. As he'd slid into the front seat next to her, Sam had grinned at Steve, and muttered something along the lines of, 'Outta my league, my ass'.

Now, the pack was loud and chatty, individual voices indistinguishable. Jared was talking to Steve, doing his best to remain calm, but he was shifting his wait from foot to foot every few seconds. The rest hung at a distance, or near Clint, marveling at Steve's bike. Clint looked rather put out.

Just as Leah was wondering if they'd ever leave, gravel crunched underfoot, and the whole pack froze as the Black Widow entered the scene. Whatever she had done seemed to make them just as scared of her as they now were of Leah. Which was probably for the best.

On the steps, Leah raised a brow as Natasha walked by. The red head winked back, in a blink and you'll miss second. Leah tried to copy the spy's stoic expression, but a smile easily broke through. It had seemed harder for her to keep a straight face recently. And more than that, each and every smile was completely genuine.

Leah slid into the passenger seat of the car, rolling down her window as Steve climbed in next to her. Bucky gave her polite nod in greeting, which she returned with a smile.

Clint finally hopped onto Steve's bike, Natasha following suit, as the pack waved and hollered their goodbyes.

"You're letting Clint drive your bike?" she asked Steve disbelievingly.

He shrugged, "Natasha should keep him in line. Hopefully."

As if in response to Steve's murmur, Clint turned to Sue the pack and gleefully yelled, "Don't worry about Leah, we'll let her run wild in Central Park with the other nut-jobs from time to time".

Sue began frowning at him, but Natasha got there first, jabbing him in the side.

Clint hissed, "and that's my cue," he mumbled, shutting his helmet, revving the engine, and flying down the road in a spray of loose gravel.

Leah felt Steve flinch next to her, and Bucky let out a huff of laughter at Steve's expense. She turned in her seat to grin at him, and the wary soldier gave her a small, near invisible smirk. She laughed with him when she heard Clint revving the bike in the distance. Steve rolled his eyes at the both of them and started up the car.

Leah found her self grinning again as she waved goodbye, to her mother and brother, and her pack, her heart clenching oddly as they appeared smaller and smaller in the distance.

It was strange to think that even six months ago, an opportunity to leave them would have seemed a miracle. And now, she was sad to see them go.

That being said, Leah may be leaving one family behind, but-she thinks of Natasha's protective wink, Clint's jokes, how Bucky was slowly but surely coming out of his HYDRA enforced shell.

How Steve still teasingly called her his little duckling when no one was listening.

There's no rule saying you can't have more than one, and Leah realised she hadn't just found her imprint. She'd gained a family.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. You guys are amazing :)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Not Strong Enough (To Stay Away)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5250308) by [Second_Lady_of_Shalott](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Second_Lady_of_Shalott/pseuds/Second_Lady_of_Shalott)




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